Meridian Orthopaedic Specialists’ Sports Medicine Outreach Program partners with local universities, colleges, and schools to provide Sports Medicine Team Doctors and/or Certified Athletic Trainers for practices, home and away games, and other sporting events throughout the year.
What is a Certified Athletic Trainer?
A Certified Athletic Trainer (AT) specializes in preventing, diagnosing, and treating sports injuries. Before practices and games, you will see athletes getting their ankles taped or stretching key muscle groups with a Certified Athletic Trainer.
When an athlete goes down during a game with a concussion or another injury, the first person you usually see running onto the field is the Certified Athletic Trainer. The athletic trainer can quickly assess the athlete, provide emergency care/first aid, and determine the extent of the injury or condition. The athletic trainer will determine whether the athlete can safely come off the field unassisted, with assistance, or on a cart. On the sidelines, the athletic trainer will conduct further evaluation to determine whether the athlete can safely return to the game or requires additional evaluation by a Sports Medicine Doctor or Orthopaedic Surgeon.
Many mild injuries are treated in the training room by the athletic trainer with ice or heat therapy, electrical muscle stimulation (ESTIM), Kinesio Taping, or exercises to strengthen or mobilize the injured area. After major injuries or surgery, the athletic trainer will work with the doctor and therapist to help the athlete return to the sport.
