Ray Castle, PhD, LAT, ATC, NREMT 

Description:
In January, Damar Hamlin, a player for the NFL Buffalo Bills, experienced a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) during Monday Night Football which was witnessed by millions of viewers, athletes, coaches, and spectators. The incident highlighted the effectiveness of a well-executed emergency action plan (EAP), which is essential for all sports activities, including high schools and colleges. While high schools typically have limited resources, athletic trainers serve as the first line of defense for injuries if present and if not fall on coaches. Therefore, it is crucial to have an interdisciplinary and comprehensive emergency action plan (EAP) that addresses all types of catastrophic injuries, including those caused by natural and man-made events using an “all-hazards approach". This session will utilize a comparative analysis approach between NFL and high schools in outlining the 7 key components essential to all athletic EAPs.

What you will learn in this course:

• Identify and analyze contemporary components of emergency action plans utilized in developing and implementing comprehensive policies and procedures.
• Analyze and implement continuous quality improvement processes to address stakeholder educational and practice gaps that may occur in the delivery of prehospital emergency care.
• Evaluate current accepted prehospital emergency standards of care with existing organizational procedures and protocols to modify and implement to ensure efficient interdisciplinary healthcare delivery.

1 Credit Hour as Approved by the Board of Certification for Athletic Trainers (BOC)