Asked to recall the worst accident he encountered in his career, Head Athletic Trainer Matt Gerken recalled a hockey player a few years back who slit his leg with a skate. Blood went everywhere, but the athletic trainer on duty handled the situation as prescribed and applied pressure to the wound and then aided the doctor.
A typical day for an athletic trainer starts between 9 or 10 a.m. and ends around 7 p.m. with a workweek spreading over six days.
“Athletic training is providing healthcare to our student athletes,” said Gerken, summing up the responsibility of the job. Currently, USM has three athletic trainers to cover all the sports at the University.
When Gerken arrives each morning, he handles his daily paperwork, which includes tracking athletes’ medical statuses, handling their physical and insurance information to verify the players’ medical eligibility.
Not only are athletic trainers responsible for looking after the overall health of the athletes, they are expected to attend all practices and games for all sports.
“The intent primarily is to be the first responder if something happens,” Gerken said. In case of an injury, the trainer follows the Emergency Action Plan (EAP), which outlines protocols for many scenarios. The most basic course for an EAP includes notifying Emergency Medical Services (EMS), providing interim care until EMS technicians arrive on the scene, and then assisting the EMS in any way possible.
Gerken said this is hard enough to manage when the seasons are in full swing and even more difficult when the seasons are overlapping. This happens twice a year: between mid October and early November and then again from late January to early March.
Prior to a practice or game, the athletic trainers assist the coaches and players by taking preventative medical cautions with the athletes such as taping hands and feet and applying braces. They also prepare a kit to bring to the practice or game water for the players and some emergency aids. The most important emergency aid is ice. “Ice is the best injury treatment,” Gerken said.
When not attending practices and games, the athletic trainers focus on the well-being of the athletes and perform therapeutic procedures, the goal of which is to improve physiologically the healing of the body and to enhance the body’s own physiology in cases of swelling, spasms, and other muscle ailments. Examples of procedures include ultrasounds, electrical stimulation, ice/hot packs, whirlpools, stretching and massages.
Typical injuries are ligament and muscle strains and sprains. When an athlete suffers such an injury, the athletic trainer generally handles all of the care. Gerken explained that athletic trainers are more skilled than physical trainers, and have better medical training.