National Athletic Training Month Recap.

National Athletic Training Month is held every March in order to spread awareness about the important work of athletic trainers (ATs). The care provided by these experts, whether to middle, high school, collegiate or professional athletes or the industrial athlete, can be life-altering. The athletic training ranks teem with stories of current ATs drawn to the profession through their interaction with an AT who helped them through a devastating injury when they were young. Such profound encounters contribute mightily to the next generation of ATs so vital to the health and well-being of athletes of all ages and disciplines.

As providers of front-line care, ATs offer wide-ranging skill sets that go well beyond the physical aspects of sports medicine. Their ability to connect with patients is perhaps the true hallmark of the AT. Another characteristic shared by many ATs is their slightly annoying reluctance to highlight their own skills.

As it’s National Athletic Training Month, we asked them the following question:

What unique value do you feel athletic trainers offer their patients?

And forced them to answer.

Lynsey Hansen – 11 year in athletic training, previous experience with youth, high school, and collegiate athletics. Past year and a half with Industrial and Tactical Medicine.

“AT’s have the unique opportunity to get to know their patients before they get injured in most cases, which can help improve the patient's outcome, and the AT also gets to watch them successfully return to their career, hobby they love, etc. Having that sort of relationship can help keep the small things small, but also incorporate techniques to aid the mental and emotional aspects when those injuries are more severe.”

Joe Hanel – 8 years in athletic training. All in Industrial setting.

“I think the general public is starting to understand that AT’s have a very broad range of knowledge about all kinds of injuries, human anatomy, kinesiology and more. When it comes to the front line of care, AT’s seem to be most knowledgeable in whole-body care. Most LAT’s need to be ready to treat any injury so our continuing education is not often specialized, allowing us to stay current on a wide spectrum of healthcare issues. I believe this really helps us stand out.”

Heidi Bohl – 13 years in athletic training, previous experience in youth and high school athletics. Past 4 years in Industrial and Tactical Medicine.

“Athletic trainers offer multiple skillsets that dabble in a variety of healthcare spectrums including physical care as well as emotional wellbeing. The range of training allows us to guide and address the whole body.”

Traci Tauferner - 17 years in athletic training, previous experience in youth, high school, collegiate and semi-professional athletics. Past 15 years in Industrial and Tactical Medicine. APTSM’s Director of Industrial and Tactical Medicine.

“I work mostly in the tactical setting. So for me athletic trainers bring valuable expertise to police and fire departments by offering specialized injury prevention, rehabilitation, and fitness training tailored to the physical demands of their jobs. Our knowledge of sports medicine principles can also help in managing and preventing work-related injuries, ultimately promoting the overall health and well-being of police officers and firefighters.”

Sean Gough – 12 years in athletic training, previous experience in high school and collegiate athletics. Almost 1 year with APTSM in Industrial and Tactical Medicine

“Athletic trainers excel in being the go-to, that trusted face due to the long-term relationships we build with patients—especially in the athletic setting but also now in the industrial and tactical space. Not only do we get to see our patients at a time where they are vulnerable, hurt, or uncertain about their future, but we also get to see them at their best.”

Marc Viergutz – 8 years in athletic training, previous experience in high school, collegiate, and professional athletics. Past 3 years with Lawrence University.

“AT’s offer a truly sport-specific view which is unique in the world of medicine. From the way we are educated to the way we approach things. It’s always from a view with the athlete’s sport in mind. We have the opportunity to work every day with that sport and provide tailored treatment plans.”

Megan Werner – 14 years in athletic training, previous experience in youth, high school, and collegiate athletics. Past 6 years in Industrial and Tactical Medicine and as Sports Medicine Coordinator.

“I feel athletic trainers offer a huge value to our patients because of our dynamic skill set. With our roots in athletics, we naturally learn to be flexible and are quick to adjust based on the needs of our patients and clients. We are always looking for ways to help our patients recover from injury or continue to improve their performance, no matter if their “playing field” is an actual field or court for an athlete, a manufacturing facility for an industrial worker, or a burning building for a firefighter.”

So if you see your friendly (or even somewhat laconic) athletic trainer, invite them to chat about their chosen profession as well as their national organization’s tagline for the month-long celebration: “From Head to Toe.”

Actually, once the ATs got going they couldn’t resist answering our second question (“How does ‘From Head to Toe’ encapsulate what you and Advanced PTSM do in athletic training?”), which we combined into a tidy paragraph that represented the group’s thoughts nicely:

“As athletic trainers, we are ready to address almost anything our patient might need. Our education includes emergency care, evaluating and treating orthopedic injuries, injury prevention, as well as concussion care, nutrition, and hydration. We’re also typically in environments like working with a team or company where we get the chance to develop strong relationships with our patients and get to know them as a person, not just their injury.”

Recreating the Unthinkable: The Stevens Point Mass Casualty Event

Even when you know it’s a simulation, you’re a bit on edge. Maybe it’s because everyone is.

Or it might be the card they handed you to identify your role in the simulation, which reads “ACTIVE SHOOTER MOCK VICTIM INFORMATION.”

Advanced Physical Therapy’s Lynsey Hansen was ready for her role as a shooting victim nonetheless.

“I was hit but still responsive,” Hansen said. “I just followed what was on the card and did my part.”

The mock disaster, held in Stevens Point for Central Wisconsin first responders, required that exact mindset from everyone involved: be prepared to do your part.

The active shooter event is known as Rescue Task Force Training (RTF). Conducted annually by the Stevens Point Fire Department, Police Department and Emergency Medical Services Team, RTF provides the training ground for multiple agencies to respond to a simulated disaster scenario. The collaborative effort identifies opportunities for enhanced coordination among the agencies tasked with stabilizing a complex situation and triaging victims at a time when every second matters.

While this was Hansen’s first participation in the event as a member of Advanced PT, her boss has been there a few more times.

“Advanced has been working with Stevens Point Police and Fire for 13 years, so this was my 13th,” said Traci Tauferner, Director of Industrial & Tactical Medicine. “I go every year to RTF training, and every year I learn something new.”

Often assisting as a victim in the dress rehearsal, Tauferner recently has taken a step back to view things as an observer.

“As the provider of onsite rehabilitation for Stevens Point Police and Fire Departments, it’s a perfect time for us to educate ourselves about the physical aspects required by personnel to effectively do their jobs in a high stress mass casualty event,” said Tauferner. “With that knowledge, we will understand how we can best rehab them if they have an injury.”

In previous drills, Tauferner focused on her role as victim, viewing the triaging interactions she had with first responders tending to her injuries. This year’s perspective afforded her the opportunity to see department interactions, triage tools, deployment, and the results of public safety partners who have planned and trained together.

Scrutinizing the approach of first responders in managing a large-scale crisis assists Advanced onsite tactical providers.

“We aren’t police officers or firefighters,” said Tauferner. “If we don’t study how they do their work, we won’t understand how to strengthen them, condition them, rehab them, and protect them if they have an injury.”

Hansen, fresh from her first acting stint, appreciated the combined efforts of those who pitched in to coordinate the event.

“You’ve got staff members and groups from multiple locations—Stevens Point, Plover, Portage, etc.—that participate, which is so important because each situation will be unique and you’re going to need to pull from every available area,” Hansen said. “So getting that experience is so beneficial for all parties.”

Afterwards, departments held debriefing sessions, both individually and jointly; those wide-ranging conversations help drive next year’s training. All participants acknowledge the intricacies of fine-tuning the rapid deployment of resources among multiple groups, but their overarching goal is simplicity itself:

To create a unified response that saves lives.