Hi, I’m Anna Aldridge, and I am the Manager of Sports Medicine at Tahoe Forest Health System. I’m here to talk about what an athletic trainer is and what they do.
Athletic trainers specialize in injury prevention and education, treatment and evaluation, and rehabilitation of those injuries. Athletic trainers go through a collegiate program, where they often come out with a master’s, and then they have to pass a board-certified test to become a certified athletic trainer.
So, what does an athletic trainer do?
Injury prevention. Athletic trainers provide injury prevention to all athletes, such as dynamic warm-ups and strength and conditioning programs, while also monitoring and seeing if they are at risk for any biomechanical issues that may predispose them to injuries.
And maybe most importantly, emergency response. Athletic trainers are first on the field, and then also last on the field, while also coordinating with emergency personnel to make sure our athletes are well taken care of, whether that’s for a head injury, a fracture, or something else.
Next is evaluations and treatments of injuries. When you get an evaluation, an athletic trainer will go through your history, what happened with the injury, and then how we can take care of it from there, by providing you with a treatment plan that works in tandem with physicians and therapists. And then they’ll adjust those plans if anything were to occur, or if we’re lacking progress, and go from there.
And last, education and communication. Athletic trainers are big on educating the community, as well as our coaches, our administration, and our parents. They are the bridge between the physicians and the patients.
Our athletic trainers take pride in serving our community and helping our athletes be successful in and out of their sport. Thank you for watching. My name is Anna Aldridge, I’m the Manager of Sports Medicine at Tahoe Forest Health System.
