StemCell Therapy

Riverton athletic trainer Ross Anderson met with the Worland coaches before their game on Sept. 27 to see which Warrior players had any special interests or medical histories. Thats part of his job since Worland is currently without a dedicated athletic trainer. Both sidelines have their own policies, some overlapping, when dealing with potential injuries. So they discussed those policies, knowing theyre not often implemented.

Both teams discovered policy importance and the importance of medical professionals that night.

When a Worland player was unresponsive after going to the turf, his sideline quickly signaled to the official and the referees signaled to Anderson, who came onto the field. He helped stabilize the Worland player and performed CPR on the field. The ambulance came on and the player was transported for further medical attention.

That was just one instance of a high school athlete in Wyoming undergoing a frightening medical episode. As possible head injuries across sports but especially in football continue to occur, Wyoming high schools have faced the reality of seeing those policies put into practice.

Riverton knew the value in having a dedicated medical professional, thats why they brought in Anderson. Anderson instructs CPR classes. He says regardless of that, his response came from his time at the University of Wyoming being taught by Bill Lyons, the universitys former head athletic trainer.

Its a standard of care. Any medical professional would have reacted in the same exact way and the more that we can, in our state, get athletic trainers and physicians on sidelines, the more that will help, Anderson said. When you get there you evaluate the situation as much as possible and keep a clear head as much as you can. You wonder how youll handle the situation each time but you kind of just react on training.

Anderson enacts policy set forth by Fremont County School District No. 25. They looked at the national recommendations made by the National Federation of High Schools and enacted policies adopted by the Wyoming High School Activities Association.

Communication has proven to be the key, for them, because coaches and parents alike stress the importance of athletes being forthright with possible symptoms. Riverton uses a 1-10 grade system and has literature available that instructs parents on what symptoms to watch for at each level.

With the evaluation all the way through, it helps everybody being on the same page, Anderson said. Everyone understands what we need to do.

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Communication also proved critical in Rock Springs back in August. While Sweetwater County School District No. 1 refused to share results of its investigation into the injury that led to sophomore Jaciel Granados being life flighted to Salt Lake City, a district spokesperson did say that their results would not result in any changes to district policy when dealing with potential head injuries.

Rock Springs activities director Tom Jassman couldnt share many details with the Star-Tribune, but did stress his confidence in how the injury was handled. He was absolutely satisfied by the proactive measures taken by coaches, who pulled Granados out of a scrimmage before summoning emergency medical treatment.

Jassman stressed the key of communication when addressing potential player injury. Not only is their policy set forth by district personnel, but the communication loop keeps district officials involved. That adds the potential for more resources than limiting response between player, coach, parent and medical professional.

All Class 4A teams, like Rock Springs, and most Class 3A teams at this point, like Riverton, have designated medical professionals on-hand. Rock Springs goes through a priority checklist to ensure its athletic trainer, Jami Wiseman, is at the event where shes the most irreplaceable.

Schools below that 3A level can also attest to the importance of medical professionals, while also representing communities that dont necessarily have them readily available.

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Moorcroft, for instances, contracts a designated professional through Gillette Physical Therapy. Activities director Dusty Petz has already found benefits of that agreement, now in its fifth year. Together theyve implemented a Return to Play protocol. That starts with the universal impact testing done on each athlete in the preseason, which has become the baseline for nearly every program nationally. Then, when a possible concussion occurs, Moorcroft conducts another impact test within 24 hours of that impact, taking the player out of action if a concussion is diagnosed. All of that is essentially ordinary among programs state-wide, but its importance cannot be overstated.

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How Wyoming high schools have enacted on head injury policy - Casper Star-Tribune Online

This entry was posted on October 13, 2019 at 9:42 pm and is filed under Preventative Medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |