Lostende Personal Fitness

...because your health is your wealth !

Allan Reeves, CSCS, ATC.

Serving clients in Marin since 1992

What is an Athletic Trainer ( ATC ) ?

Athletic Training ( ATC ) is a profession that has developed over the past century due to the medical needs of athletes associated with athletic clubs and universities.  It has long been recognized that athletes injure themselves while participating in sports.  Often times their injuries may be minor discomforts, such as bruises and muscles soreness, or they can be more serious, such as bone fractures and ligament tears, or ultimately the injury can be fatal.  The profession of Athletic Training exists because of this great potential for injury in sport and the large number of  athletes participating in organized sports, either in professional or amateur contests ( high school, college, professional ).  Today Athletic Trainers are an integral part of every major sporting organization.  Every single professional sporting team, university, college or junior college employs 1 or more Athletic Trainer(s).

Athletic Trainers are responsible for the health care of athletes.  Even though they are not licensed as doctors and do not have the legal right to "diagnose" an injury, they are still an integral part of the medical team that takes care of their athletes.  Athletic Trainers are educated, trained and certified to evaluate (identify) and treat injuries.  They may act as the "first responder" at the scene of a medical emergency at a football game, or they may evaluate an injury in the Athletic Training Room.

Whatever the case, Athletic Trainers must be able to recognize the severity of an injury and provide the appropriate medical care.  Normally Athletic Trainers work closely with doctors, and under the supervision of a doctor they will also rehabilitate an injured athlete.

Athletic Trainers enjoy a profession that puts them in an athletic environment, working at times in an athletic treatment room administering treatment and evaluating injuries, and at other times directly on site of an athletic event overseeing the welfare of the athletes.  When you watch an athletic event and there is an injured player on the field, the person tending to the injured athlete is usually an Athletic Trainer.

In summary, an Athletic Trainer is a "jack of many medical trades," because their profession and education requires that he/she understand and perform many duties.  The following is a list of the professional competencies:

1. First aid medical care.

2. The evaluation of athletic injuries, requiring the knowledge of orthopedic tests to assess bone, ligament, muscle, or nervous tissue damage.

3. The treatment of athletic injuries, requiring the knowledge of medical modalities to provided acute medical treatment or rehabilitation.

4. Athletic taping skills to properly apply "athletic tape" to provide additional support to joints in the hopes of preventing injuries or protecting existing ones.

5. Nutritional knowledge to properly counsel athletes concerning their nutritional needs.

6. Physical therapy skills to implement and oversee the rehabilitation of an athlete from an injury.

For more information about Athletic Trainers please visit the National Athletic Trainers Association
( NATA ) website.