Prevalence and characteristics of general and football-specific emergency medical service activations by high school and collegiate certified athletic trainers: a national study

Abstract

Objective: To describe frequency and characteristics of emergency medical services (EMS) activations by certified athletic trainers (ATs) and effects of pre-season planning meetings on interactions between ATs and EMS both generally and specifically during football head/neck emergencies. Design: Retrospective cross-sectional survey. Setting: 2009 Web-based survey. Participants: Athletic trainers (n = 1884; participation rate, 28%) in high school and collegiate settings. Independent Variables: Athletic trainer work setting, AT demographics, history of pre-season planning meetings. Main Outcome Measures: Proportions and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) estimated the prevalence of EMS activation, planning meetings, and characteristics of AT-EMS interactions (eg, episodes of AT-perceived inappropriate care and on-field disagreements). Chi square tests tested differences (P < 0.05) in proportions. Associations (odds ratio = OR and 95% CI) between work setting, demographics, preseason meetings and fall 2008 1) episodes of AT-perceived inappropriate care, and 2) on-field disagreements were assessed using multivariate logistic regression. Results: High school ATs activated EMS more frequently than collegiate ATs (eg, fall 2008 EMS activation for football injury, 59.9% vs 27.5%; P < 0.01) and reported fewer pre-season planning meetings (eg, met with EMS to practice, 38.1% vs 55.8%; P < 0.01). During the Fall 2008 football season, high school ATs perceived more episodes of inappropriate care (10.4% vs 3.9%; P < 0.01) and on-field disagreements (5.4 vs 2.2%; P < 0.01) than collegiate ATs. High school work setting was independently associated with episodes of AT-perceived inappropriate care (adjusted OR = 2.76; 95% CI, 1.65-4.62) and on-field disagreements (adjusted OR = 2.33; 95% CI, 1.17-4.64). Conclusions: Athletic trainer-EMS interactions are common and sometimes involve AT-perceived episodes of inappropriate care and on-field disagreements between emergency care providers.

Department

Kinesiology

Publication Date

1-1-2010

Journal Title

Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine

Publisher

Wolters Kluwer Health

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1097/JSM.0b013e3181fc0a54

Document Type

Article

Rights

Copyright © 2010, (C) 2010 Lippincott Williams

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