A recent national position statement on developing and implementing emergency action plans in sports by a researcher in athletic training at West Virginia University highlights new priorities for addressing severe injuries across all levels of sports, from youth to professional leagues.
“The main objective of this position statement is to minimize preventable deaths from sports activities. We aim for this document to save more lives,” stated Samantha Scarneo-Miller, an assistant professor and program director for the Master of Science in Athletic Training program at WVU School of Medicine, who is the lead author of the position statement.
Scarneo-Miller was selected by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) to update the organization’s 22-year-old document. The revamped position statement suggests appointing an emergency action plan coordinator to collaborate with other athletic staff, enhancing venue-specific plans tailored to each sport, and maintaining thorough incident documentation.
The primary causes of catastrophic injuries in sports include cardiac arrest, exertional heat stroke, traumatic head injury, and cervical spine injury.
Published in the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Journal of Athletic Training, the position statement presents a framework for developing and implementing emergency action plans. It provides guidelines for preparing and responding to catastrophic or potentially catastrophic injuries at sports events in a pre-hospital setting.
The position statement incorporates various updates and recommendations. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all approach, it offers general principles that teams can customize to their specific circumstances and available resources.
One of these updates includes introducing a pre-event medical meeting, previously known as a “medical timeout,” where emergency procedures, signals, and equipment locations are reviewed before a competition.
Building on earlier guidelines focusing on sport-specific emergency action plans, the new document proposes considering the unique requirements of different sports in terms of personnel skills and facility changes, such as new constructions.
“Merely having a plan for the facility is inadequate now,” Scarneo-Miller emphasized. “Different teams with various staff may use the same facility. An emergency action plan specific to the sport and venue is necessary because coaches and staff possess distinctive skills that can contribute to plan implementation.”
The importance of designating an emergency action plan coordinator is stressed, suggesting a shift in responsibility from athletic trainers alone to engaging the entire athletic staff for more effective plan development and implementation.
“The position statement underscores the significance of an EAP coordinator supported by an interdisciplinary healthcare team,” explained Scarneo-Miller. “While the athletic trainer may lead the plan coordination, they need input from coaches, administrators, physicians, and athletes for reviewing and executing the plan. We want to remind athletic trainers that they have various untapped resources.”
The systematic approach of the position statement focuses on advancing medical science and was developed with input from professionals in various fields, including sports medicine physicians and athletic trainers across different settings. It is the first position statement created under NATA’s new procedures, emphasizing a fair selection process for the author team, considering diversity in gender, race, location, specialty, and setting.
“Historically, clinicians have not been involved in writing position statements as these documents have primarily focused on the latest research for clinicians to utilize,” Scarneo-Miller noted. “However, NATA is striving to ensure that clinicians have a say in developing these recommendations, as they are the ones who will put these guidelines into clinical practice.”
Scarneo-Miller highlighted the importance of introducing this new position statement. “We urge stakeholders and partners to embrace these crucial recommendations, collaborating to establish a culture of readiness and safety that will safeguard and benefit our athletes.”
The presentation of the position statement by Scarneo-Miller was part of NATA’s 75th Clinical Symposia and AT Expo held in New Orleans from June 25-28.
