Athletic Training
Linden Hall has a certified athletic trainer on staff who specializes in the prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of athletic related injuries. The athletic trainer assists with the coordination of pre-participation exams, selection of protective equipment, coverage of practices and games, application of various therapeutic modalities, and designing and implementing injury-specific rehabilitation programs.
- Responsibilities of the Student Athlete
- In the Event of an Injury
- Parent Information
- Lightning Safety Policy
Responsibilities of the Student Athlete
In order to achieve the objective of quality medical care, each student-athlete has the responsibility to:
- Be honest and direct with the athletic trainers caring for you
- Report all injuries and illnesses within 48 hours
- Follow the treatment and rehabilitation plan prescribed by your physician or athletic trainer. It is your responsibility to advise the athletic trainer if there are any problems or reasons why you cannot follow the plan
- Report to the Athletic Training Facility daily, or as directed, for treatment and rehabilitation until you are cleared by the athletic trainer or medical doctor
- Report any change in your condition to a staff athletic trainer
- Understand your health problem and the treatment and rehabilitation program to your satisfaction. If you do not understand any part of your treatment/rehabilitation program, ask a staff Athletic Trainer or physician. Be sure you know what is expected of you.
In the Event of an Injury
At School...
Athletic and other injuries that occur at Linden Hall should be reported to the Linden Hall Sports Medicine staff and the athlete’s coach as soon as the athlete realizes she is injured. If the athlete is injured during school hours, they should also report this injury to the school nurse or other appropriate personnel.
The Linden Hall Sports Medicine staff will evaluate the injury and, based upon the evaluation, make a determination as to what the most appropriate course of care for the athlete. Treatment will be based upon the athletic trainer’s experience, established protocols and standing orders furnished by our team physicians and/or caring physician. In most cases, injuries are minor in nature and the athlete can be successfully treated in the athletic training room.
If the injury is more extensive or will require further medical evaluation by a physician, the athlete’s parent/guardian will be contacted by the athletic trainer and provided with information about the injury and can recommend a physician or help with appointments to speed up the down time.
It is essential that ALL athletic injuries be reported to the Linden Hall Sports Medicine staff when they occur.
On the Road…
If an athlete is injured while on the road, she should report that injury to his/her coach and then to a sports medicine staff member as soon as possible following their injury.
If the host school employs an athletic trainer, our coaching staff may elect to have the athlete examined by that athletic trainer who will most likely provide basic care for the injury (i.e., ice, wrapping, etc.) and refer the athlete back to our sports medicine staff. The athlete should report the injury to the Sports Medicine staff member the next day in school. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT SHE DOES THIS! In case of significant injury, parents will be contacted about the injury directly from that site and consulted about the problem.
Follow-up Care
To ensure that athletes recover from their athletic injuries, it is extremely important that they make every effort to come to the athletic training room for daily care and follow-up until released by the athletic training staff and/or their physician. Please encourage your child to continue to follow-up with our Sports Medicine Staff as needed.
Our goal is to make the Linden Hall athletic training room a full-service medical facility that can offer a wide array of treatment methods and rehabilitation procedures including: ice, moist heat packs, electric stimulation, exercise rehabilitation, stretching, functional testing, physical therapy, etc. Emergency and basic first aid is always available to Linden Hall athletes. All Sports Medicine staff members are trained in CPR and emergency first aid.
Parent Information
Questions from Home…
If you are concerned about an injury that your child suffered during athletics, PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL THE ATHLETIC TRAINER.
If an injury which appears minor one day, and becomes more bothersome the next day, please call the athletic training room so that we can assist you in the next appropriate steps. It is always your right as a parent to seek further medical care for your child if you have any doubts as to the seriousness of her injury. It is strongly recommended that you contact the sports medicine staff before taking your child to the physician of your choice. Often, the athletic trainer can eliminate unneeded waiting time and have your child seen in a timely fashion.
Anytime you take your child to a physician for an athletic injury, we ask that you obtain in writing the doctor’s instructions for treatment and return to play guidelines for us to appropriately (and legally) treat your child.
YOUR CHILD MAY NOT RETURN TO PLAY WITHOUT A WRITTEN RELEASE FROM THE PHYSICIAN.
Lightning Safety Policy
Lightning is the most frequent weather hazard affecting athletic events. Advance planning is the single most important means to achieve lightning safety. Removing individuals from activity in the event of inclement weather is a shared responsibility of the athletic director, athletic trainer and coaching staff. The following steps are recommended:
- It is the athletic training/coaching/athletic staff’s responsibility to be aware of current weather conditions within the area and potential threats. Staff will then be aware of the possibility of a storm forming or moving into the area during the day.
- The athletic training/coaching/athletic staff should be aware of the signs of a nearby thunderstorm. It is important to understand that thunderstorms can become threatening in the matter of half an hour. In addition, lightning can occur even with the absence of rain.
- The athletic training/coaching/ athletic staff should also be aware of the closest safe shelter to their practice or game site and the amount of time it takes to reach the safe shelter. ( Safe shelter is defined as: any sturdy building that has metal plumbing or wiring to electrically ground the structure, and in the absence of a sturdy building or any vehicle with a hard metal roof (not a golf cart or convertible) with the windows rolled up.)
- The flash-to-bang method should be used to monitor how close lightning is occurring. (Count the seconds between seeing the lightning flash and hearing the clap of thunder bang. Divide this number by 5 to determine how far away (in miles) the lightning is occurring. For example, 15 seconds is 3 miles away.)
- If the flash-to-bang count is decreasing rapidly and the storm is approaching your location or if the flash-to-bang count approaches 30 seconds (6miles), all outdoor activity must cease. All persons must immediately leave the athletic field and report to the closest safe shelter.
- Stay away from tall or individual tree, poles, metal objects, standing pools of water, and open fields. Avoid being the tallest object in a field.
- If there is no safe shelter within a reasonable distance, crouch in a dry ditch. You should crouch with only your feet touching the ground, keeping your feet close together. Wrap your arms around your legs and tuck your head. DO NOT LIE FLAT.
- If you feel your hair stand on end, your skin tingle, or hear crackling noises, immediately crouch as described in #7.
- Allow 30 minutes to pass after the last sound of thunder and/or flash of lightning before resuming any activity. Lightning can still flash even after the rain stops.
- Do not use landline telephones unless an emergency arises.
- Lightning strike victims do not carry an electrical charge. CPR/AED is safe and should be utilized immediately if warranted.
Athletic Trainer
Karly Kosek
Email: kkosek2@lghealth.org
Phone: ext. 119
Availability at Linden Hall: Varying but typically after school until the end of the last practice