Key Takeaways
- Sports injuries and even deaths continue to plague public schools.
- Having a full time athletic director on campus can help reduce incidents of serious injuries.
- This website can help schools start the AD hiring process: atyourownrisk.org
Sports-related injuries continue to strike a nerve among educators and parents. The U.S. Product Safety Commission says a young athlete is seen every three minutes in an emergency room for a sports-related concussion. Athletic Trainers (ATs), who work under the direction of physicians as prescribed by state licensure statutes can help reduce the risk of these injuries.
Source: national athletic trainers association
- 90 percent of student athletes report some sort of sports-related injury.
- 54 percent of athletes report they have played while injured.
- 37 percent of high school athletes say they have experienced sprains.
- But even in the face of great need, only 37 percent of public high schools employ a full-time athletic trainer.
Schools with ATs report that their student athletes sustain fewer injuries (both acute and recurring) than athletes at schools without athletic trainers. Having an AT on staff also improves the early detection of dehydration, exertional heat illness, head injuries, sudden cardiac arrest, and other sports-related health issues.
- More than 300 youth-sports-related fatalities occurred between 2008 and 2015.
- In 2015, 50 high school athletes died during sports or physical activity.
Thousands more sustained athletic injuries that created long-term complications.
ATs are trained to help prevent and treat major sports health conditions and reduce acute, chronic or catastrophic injuries, and to closely monitor athletes who may have pre-existing health conditions.
Encourage the hiring of a full-time Athletic Trainer at your school.
For more information, visit atyourownrisk.org
