Mecklenburg (CMS) high schools over the next five years under an
agreement announced today between CMS and Carolinas HealthCare System
(CHS).
The athletic trainers, who will be CHS employees, will be nationally
certified and state licensed, and will direct efforts to protect the
health and safety of student athletes in all sports. The action
follows growing concern nationwide about athletic injuries, especially
concussions sustained by football players and sudden cardiac deaths.
"This is a remarkable opportunity for us to ensure that our student-
athletes are receiving the best care while they take part in sports,"
said Dr. Peter C. Gorman, superintendent of CMS. "We are very
fortunate to have Carolinas Medical Center and Carolinas Healthcare
Systems as partners, and we thank them for helping us keep athletics
safe for participants."
CMS high schools that have received a certified athletic trainer this
year are South Mecklenburg, Berry Academy and East Mecklenburg.
Additional trainers will be added each year until 2015, when all CMS
high schools will have one.
Dennis Phillips, executive vice president-metro group of CHS, said the
agreement builds on a 17-year relationship with CMS that has provided
comprehensive sports medicine services to the schools.
"Our partnership to date has produced a number of unique efforts to
safeguard CMS student athletes, including the highly successful Heart
of a Champion Day and our ongoing study and treatment of concussions,"
Phillips said. "This agreement will better structure our relationship
and result in an expansion of services available to students."
Heart of a Champion Day, begun in 2008, screens more than 1,000 CMS
student athletes annually. The free screenings include a general
medical evaluation, orthopedic exam and two heart tests to check for
conditions that could lead to sudden cardiac death.
CHS' Sports Medicine Department and Carolinas Rehabilitation jointly
operate the Carolinas Concussion Network, which monitors brain
injuries, provides treatment and tests athletes before they are
allowed to resume competition.
Concussion Network programs include a research study using wireless
sensors in football helmets that record the force of impacts during
football games. The data is transmitted to a sideline computer in
real time. Also, athletes in all sports who have sustained a
concussion are given a computer-based test that measures cognitive
function before being cleared to play.
Among the new features that will be added under the CMS/CHS agreement
are dietary and health and wellness programs, CPR and Automated
External Defibrillator training, a 24-hour sports medicine nurse
hotline, sports medicine web site and a quarterly newsletter.
Certified athletic trainers hold a bachelor's or master's degree with
a major in athletic training and are focused on injury prevention,
assessment, treatment and rehabilitation. They are required to pursue
continuing education to retain their certification (ATC or Athletic
Trainer-Certified), which is awarded by the Board of Certification, Inc.
Athletic trainers practicing in North Carolina are also licensed by
the North Carolina Board of Athletic Trainer Examiners (NCBATE).
