PRATTVILLE, Ala. — Alabama medics are being trained to treat sports-related injuries thanks to a new partnership between the National Center for Sports Safety and the Alabama Fire College.
Sports-related head and spinal injuries have already claimed the lives of four players since the beginning of the football season.
“This class is unlike anything we’ve had here at the Prattville Regional Training Center,” Prattville Battalion Training Chief Ricky Roberts told WSFA. “It was a hands-on class for sports injuries.”
Roberts and his colleagues worked various scenarios, learned how to quickly assess spinal injuries and how to properly remove player helmets and pads with minimal movement.
“Not only did we learn to assess the spinal package, we also participated as a victim,” Roberts said. “One thing several of us took from that is how scary it would be for a 15- to 16-year-old teenager on a Friday night in front of 5,000 people to have a spinal injury.”
Roberts said is important they learn these techniques because doctors, nurses and sports trainers are not always present during games, and often medics and EMTs are the first ones to respond.
The National Center for Sports Safety Executive Director Derrek Smith said this training will help establish a chain of command.
“Having emergency action plans so everyone knows what their role is key,” Smith said. “The worst thing you can have happen is have an emergency and people question their role or not know what the proper protocol because there’s more injury that could happen because of the wrong scenario.”
Training officers and educators are currently training at the Alabama Fire College, so when they pass the test they’ll be able to teach their respective departments.