A new study from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association highlights a lack of certified sports medicine professionals on the sidelines at high school sports games.
The study, titled Athletic Directors’ Barriers to Hiring Athletic Trainers in High Schools, said roughly two-thirds of American high schools do not employ a full-time athletic trainer, with 30 percent of American schools lacking any trainer at all.
The Maine Principals’ Association, which governs state-level high school athletics, said the rule in Maine only requires coaches to be certified in first aid, CPR, and recognizing concussion symptoms.
But many athletic trainers say that training is not sufficient because of how drastically high school sports have changed in recent years.
“The level of sport that’s now being played — there’s a level of intensity in terms of speed and agility and strength that kids are now bringing to the playing field that just wasn’t there, so there’s a higher risk for more catastrophic injuries,” said University of New England director of athletic training Wayne Lamarre. “There are so many more complexities now in terms of the kinds of other health issues that these kids are bringing to the playing field that certainly weren’t happening 15 or 20 years ago.”
“We know how to treat them on an emergency basis, right on the field, but we also can assess whether or not they can get back on the field. In terms of other professions, they may not have that capability,” said Greg Tosi, the athletic trainer at Deering High School.
Tosi is responsible for keeping all his student-athletes safe and healthy before, during, and after practices and games.
Lamarre said some of the biggest reasons why many high schools do not have certified athletic trainer’s on the sidelines during games is because of lack of school funding as well as availability of well-paying jobs.
“It’s a return on investment piece for them. They’re looking for gainful employment. Unfortunately, it tends to happen in these either NCAA collegiate experiences, or in larger urban centers,” said Lamarre.
The Maine Principals Association’s sports medicine committee met last week to discuss how to get more trainers on the field.
“Obviously, they, like the rest of us, would like to have the trainers available at all sites, but we recognize that from a financial standpoint, as well as availability, there are simply some schools that would not be able to provide this,” said Dick Durost, the executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association.
The October study listed five primary obstacles that athletic directors face when trying to hire athletic trainers, such as ADs not having the power to hire a trainer or change the budget to do so; not having the funding to hire an AT; being located in such a rural area where there are not enough medical professionals available; having misconceptions about an ATs role and believing first aid training is sufficient; and encountering interference from the community, who may see volunteer medical services as sufficient and more cost-effective.
“I’m very lucky to be full-time. It’s a rare entity in the state of Maine. There may be 5 or 6 in the state of Maine that are full-time athletic trainers,” said Tosi. “Athletic trainers on the sideline save so much money in emergency room visits.”
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http://www.wcsh6.com/story/news/local/2015/11/04/study-lack-of-athletic-trainers-at-high-school-sports/75181712/