Do High Schools Need Athletic Trainers?

Do high schools need to have certified athletic trainers on staff? Why should colleges have athletic trainers on staff but not high schools? In the past few months there have been three sports related deaths in North Carolina alone. One of the deaths is believed to be dehydration, and the other two were head injuries. Certified athletic trainers have a lot of extra training compared to someone who is only certified in CPR and first aid. I believe that high schools should have certified athletic trainers on their staff to help to prevent or properly treat these types of injuries.

The first of the three deaths was Atlas Fraley followed by Matt Gfeller and Jaquan Waller. Fraley was a 17 year old senior form Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill. His parents found him unresponsive on August 12 after he had played in a scrimmage at Middle Creek High School in Apex. Erin Hartness reports, “He called 911 from his house shortly before 2 p.m., complaining of body aches and dehydration and asking for paramedics to provide him with intravenous fluids” (/news/local/story/3387988/). Fraley was not taken to the hospital. He died later that evening. The next in the three deaths was Matt Gfeller, a 15 year old sophomore from R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston Salem. He was hit in the season opener against Page High School in Greensboro, and died August 24. The hit he took caused cranial bleeding, which caused his death. Finally the last of the three was Jaquan Waller, a 17 year old senior from J.H. Rose High School in Greenville. Waller had been hit in practice two days before the game and sustained a mild concussion. Waller then sustained a hit during the game against J.T. Hoggard in Wilmington. According to WRAL, “Waller was transported there after he collapsed on the sidelines during the second quarter of a home game against Wilmington's J.T. Hoggard High School” (/news/local/story/3577837/). Waller was taken off life support Saturday afternoon. According to Erin Hartness, “He had been hit in practice two days before the game and suffered a mild concussion, and a medical examiner determined the cause of death to be "second-impact syndrome," where a person receives two or more blows to the head in a short period” (/news/local/story/3702942/).

These deaths caused people to wonder if athletic trainers would be needed in high schools. These three deaths might have been prevented if there had been a certified athletic trainer present. Erin Hartness reports, "(Trainers) have a lengthy course of study on sports-related injuries that includes that of sport concussion," Guskiewicz said (/news/local/story/3702942/). Athletic trainers are able to complete evaluations on athletes to try and figure out what is wrong. They are also able to provide certain types of treatments to insure that the athletes are able to get better sooner. According to Erin Hartness a panel of sports medicine experts decided, “Any high school athlete suspected of suffering a concussion must be cleared by a physician before he or she can play or practice” (/news/local/story/3702942/). This was decided by a panel of sports medicine experts. Another reason why there should be athletic trainers in high schools is the obvious reason that three athletes died within two months of each other. We can not let that happen again. It is hard on the friends, families, and teams. Finally should we be putting athletes on the field if we do not have the proper safety for the athletes. Erin Hartness reports, "If we can't put kids out on the fields in a safe manner, then we shouldn't be putting them out there," he (Guskiewicz) said (/news/local/story/3702942/). If the athletes don’t have the proper equipment to help the athletes to get better or help prevent injuries then the athletes should not step foot on the field.

Athletes should be able to get the treatments they need if they are injured, but without certified atheletic trainers athletes can not always get the things they need. Most high schools do not have the equipment so they are able to get the proper treatments. I am an athlete myself, and most of the players on my volleyball team are required to go in before practice and get treatments if they have an injury. The treatments consist of taping, stretching, icing, heating, and STEM. Also if an athlete is hurting, the athletic trainer will do an evaluation to try and figure out what is wrong. If the athletic trainer suspects something might be serious, the trainer refers the athlete to whatever type of doctor they need to see based on what the problem is. This helps prevent serious injuries from happening, or becoming a huge problem. High schools do not have the luxury of this so some serious problem go unnoticed, which is why Atlas Fraley, Matt Gfeller, and Jaquan Waller died. This is something that needs to be addressed and taken more seriously in order to prevent future deaths in young athletes.

I have been in a similar situation of losing a team member to death. Two of my teammates have passed away. The only difference was that it was not a sports related injury. Both of my teammates died in car accidents. I know that an athletic trainer would not have been able to prevent their death, but I know what it is like to loose somebody from a team. No team, no friends, no family should have to go through the loss of someone when it could have possibly been prevented. There are so many different reasons why high schools should have the luxury of having certified athletic trainers on staff. Certified athletic trainers are able to provide more care for athletes than a person who is certified in CPR and first aid. Why would we not want to provide more care for these athletes? This is why I feel that not having certified athletic trainers in high schools is such a big deal, and needs to be handled as a main priority in the panel meetings.

Works Cited
Hartness, Erin. “Panel tightens rules on player concussions.” WRAL.com 9 Oct. 2008. 4 Nov. 2008. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3702942/

Hartness, Erin. “Chapel Hill schools investigating football player's death.” WRAL.com 15 Aug. 2008. 4 Nov. 2008. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3387988/

“N.C. high school football player dies after game.” WRAL.com 21 Sept. 2008. 4 Nov. 2008. http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3577837/