Youth Sports Safety Goes Grassroots in San Diego
It’s
August. For most athletic trainers this time of year means long days, double
practice sessions and the perfect combination of conditions to put student
athletes at risk for concussions, exertional heat illness and many other
non-catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries. Those athletes who are fortunate
enough to have an athletic trainer on the sideline will be monitored closely in
an effort to prevent these injuries and illnesses and to care for those who do
get injured. What about those athletes who do not have access to an athletic
trainer? What happens when a potentially
catastrophic injury happens?
For many
young athletes in San Diego, California the Athletes Saving Athletes™ Program
presented by Advocates for Injured Athletes (A4IA) has taught them how to
recognize potentially catastrophic injuries and get the appropriate help. Advocates for Injured Athletes are staunch
supporters of athletic trainers. A4IA believes athletic trainers should be in
every school and at every youth sporting event, but until that happens A4IA has
worked to teach young athletes how to help each other. The program was started by Beth and Tommy
Mallon after Tommy suffered a nearly fatal neck injury and concussion while playing
in his final high school lacrosse game in 2009.
Hear Tommy tell his story in this video. Beth
believes there are two reasons Tommy is with us today: 1) Tommy’s best friend
Matt did not allow him to get up off the field until he has been evaluated by
an athletic trainer and 2) Riki Kirchhoff, the athletic trainer, made the
correct clinical decision stabilizing Tommy and having him transported to the
hospital via ambulance.
The ASA™
program is a unique peer-to-peer education program taught exclusively by
athletic trainers. Student-athletes are
selected by their coaches and teachers to participate in the program and are
expected to share what they have learned with their teammates and coaches once
they have completed the curriculum. The
curriculum is a 3-hour program that covers concussions, head and neck injuries,
exertional heat stroke, sudden cardiac arrest, asthma and diabetes through the
real-life survival stories of Tommy Mallon (concussion, neck injury), Will
James (exertional heat stroke) and Brittan Sutphin (sudden cardiac
arrest). Athletes are also taught hands
only CPR with an AED and are encouraged to go on to become fully certified in
CPR. The initial program launched in
2012 at Santa Fe Christian High School, Tommy’s alma mater, and has since
educated 2600 hundred athletes in 3 states.
Here is a
list of some of the recent achievements by ASA™ and its graduates:
·
Two
lives were saved in 2013 by ASA™ program graduates
·
2600
athletes have completed the program
·
15
certified athletic trainers are now ASA™ Instructors, teaching the curriculum
to student athletes
·
In
the last year the program has expanded beyond San Diego to Indianapolis, IN
(Community Health Network) and Manchester, NH (New Hampshire Musculoskeletal
Institute)
·
Launched
coach education program
·
Launched
parent education program
Advocates
for Injured Athletes and its Athletes Saving Athletes™ program has taken youth
sport safety to the next level, to the athletes themselves all while supporting
the athletic trainers who care for them.
Want to get involved as an instructor, learn more or even bring ASA™ to
your school or organization? If so,
check out A4IA’s updated website, follow us on Facebook and contact Beth today!
Whether you want to help raise awareness, do fundraising or have your
athletes complete the ASA™ curriculum, “What you know, may
save someone you know!”
Submitted
by Heather L. Clemons, MS, MBA, ATC
Heather
has been working for A4IA since October 2012 as a blogger, ASA Program
instructor and as a member of the Outreach Advisory Team. I have also worked as an adjunct instructor
in the San Diego State University Athletic Training Program. Prior to relocating to San Diego I was the
Clinical Coordinator for the ATEP at Hofstra University. I have been certified for 16 years and earned
my MBA from Hofstra University (2005) and my MS in Health and Human Performance
from Oregon State University (2000).
