Walpole High School Sports Medicine Services

What is an Athletic Trainer (AT)? 

An AT is an allied healthcare professional who has a degree from an accredited college or university and has fulfilled the requirements for certification established by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification (BOC). In addition, they have passed the certification examination administered by the BOC and have met all requirements to maintain certification. Over 70% of ATs have a master’s degree although in 2017, this became a requirement. 

Based on the depth and rigor of their education and continued education requirements, a certified athletic trainer is the most qualified individual, other than a physician, to deal with orthopedic injuries on a daily basis.

What is the Role of an AT? 

ATs work under the direction of licensed physicians to prevent, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate acute and chronic injuries and medical conditions. The AT has an extensive background in human anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, and exercise physiology. Additionally, Athletic Trainers are qualified to provide nutritional and psychological counseling, and work with student-athletes’ school counselors and primary care providers to make referrals when needed. 

Direct Coverage: 

The AT holds treatment hours in their office after school each day until the start of the first home game(s), and travels with sports that have the home/away teams on opposing sidelines (i.e. football). In the event of conflicting home sporting events, the AT will be directly covering the sport with the highest risk of catastrophic injury and will be available via phone for all other practices and competitions taking place that day. Precedence is also given to higher level sports (i.e. Varsity vs. Freshman teams), as risk increases with improved skill level and speed of the game. If there are conflicting events that warrant additional medical coverage onsite, the Athletic Director and AT will make every effort to either assign a per diem Athletic Trainer or EMT to the event, or will meet with the coaches to go over the emergency protocol for that particular day.

Medical Kits

Med kits are distributed to coaches during the first week of each season and contain medical supplies to be used by student-athletes and the coaching staff. Supplies include: ice packs, band-aids, gauze, bug spray, sunscreen, mouth guards, athletic tape, pre-wrap, scissors, antibiotic/antihistamine ointments, alcohol pads, gloves, etc. Athletes who have asthma,  allergies, or diabetes should keep extra doses of their medication in their team’s med kit or place their belongings near the Head Coach so that it will be readily accessible if needed. 

What are the Advantages of Having a Certified AT at Walpole HS? 

Full-time secondary school ATs provide quality healthcare for student-athletes involved in both practices and competitions. ATs providing immediate care to acute injuries may have a significant impact on the reduction of new and recurring injuries. 

Providing these services at your school can tremendously reduce lost instructional time for the student-athlete. Decrease in absenteeism can also result in retention of state funding for public schools. It can also reduce time that parents need to miss from work in order to bring their child to medical appointments.

Many schools have compared the cost of treating their injured athletes at local clinics with treating them onsite under the supervision of an AT. They have found that their athletic trainers are providing the equivalent to thousands of dollars of athletic training services per year to their athletes. (Berry 1993, Almquist & Reynolds). 

In 1999, the American Medical Association (AMA) recommended that schools with athletics programs provide the services of an athletic trainer for their athletes. The courts have recognized the certified athletic trainer of the Board of Certification (BOC) as the professionally-educated athletic healthcare provider. Along with the team physician, the AT can establish policies and procedures for the secondary school athletic training program to protect not only the student-athlete, but are there to protect spectators, game, and school personnel.

Additional Medical Personnel associated with Walpole HS Athletics: 

• Walpole High School Nurses, Kim Byda and Heather White

• Walpole School District Nurse, Linda Anderson

• Walpole Team Physician, Dr. Kelly McInnis 

In addition to the Athletic Trainer, each of the individuals above work together to provide high-quality, collaborative care for your student-athlete. While we all work as a team, it is important that any updated medical information be relayed from the student-athlete's family to both the Athletic Trainer and School Nurses in the Health Office.