The National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) membership celebrate the Athletic Training profession each March to spread awareness of the important work Athletic Trainers (AT’s) do. This year’s slogan is “Essential to Health Care”. This past year showed this more and more as athletic trainers worked to develop COVID-19 protocols to help combat the Coronavirus Pandemic. Athletic Trainers not only assisted their teams, schools, and companies in developing and implementing risk mitigation protocols but safe return to work and play protocols.
Athletic Trainers are licensed/certified experts who work to prevent and treat musculoskeletal injuries and sports-related illnesses, athletic trainers offer an unparalleled continuum of care. AT’s are part of a team of health care professionals; they practice under the direction of and in collaboration with physicians. Athletic Trainers work with individuals who are physically active or involved in sports participation through all the stages of life to prevent, treat, and rehabilitate injuries and medical conditions. Athletic Trainers should not be confused with personal trainers or “trainers” who focus solely on fitness and conditioning.
Sports injuries can be serious. Brain and spinal cord injuries and conditions such as heat illness can be life threatening if not recognized and properly managed. AT’s are equipped to treat acute injuries on the spot. Athletic Trainers mitigate risk for school administrators, athletic directors, and coaches who have their own jobs, which may pose a conflict of interest with athlete safety; coaches are not experts in managing injuries or sport-related illnesses, nor should they be responsible for doing so. Treating injuries at school or at work, rather than sending the patient to the emergency department, saves money and time loss and gets the patient back to activity faster.
Northeast Texas Community College would like to recognize our Athletic Training staff, Justin Hargrove (Head Athletic Trainer) and student athletic trainers Erica Austin and Marissa Nolan along with the athletic trainers of Mount Pleasant ISD, Alex Fellows and Trenton Gardner, Daingerfield ISD AT Averi Nelson, Pittsburg ISD AT Tyler Nugent, and Mount Vernon ISD AT KaTerria Epps for all their hard work in taking care of our area athletes.
For more information about athletic training you can visit the NATA website at www.nata.org or for more information on how to get an athletic trainer at your school visit www.atyourownrisk.org .
