Hello athletes and families! My role as the Athletic Trainer is to provide injury and illness prevention, wellness promotion and education, emergent care, examination, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation services to our GHS athletes. In order to make each season run smoothly, here are a few important items to remember:
1. COMMUNICATION IS KEY!: If an athlete gets injured or experiences concussion symptoms, especially at an away game or off site practice, please let me know ASAP. My goal is to help manage injuries and return athletes to sports as quickly and safely as possible.
The athletic training room is well equipped with many tools and modalities which can help manage athletic injuries. The school also have connections with several doctors in the area, allowing athletes to be seen quickly by a specialist if needed.
2. Doctor's Notes: Every child who misses a practice or game for a medical reason (injury/sickness/etc) MUST bring me a Dr.'s note to be eligible for play. This note can be passed to the coach, emailed or faxed to me at the school. The note must identify if and how long the athlete needs to remain out of sports and any other restrictions.
3.Sway Baseline Assessment: This assessment is not "pass" or "fail". The results are used to assess the athlete's baseline cognitive function - aka how the brain works in certain areas like memory and reaction time. It also assess the athlete's balance in a few different positions with their eyes CLOSED. (make sure the volume on your device is turned up!) Should an athlete experience a concussion during their sports season, the test results will help the GHS medical staff determine the athlete's readiness to return to play. The SWAY Baseline assessment must be completed by all athletes 1x every 2 years. For more information about the SWAY program, please see important links below.
NOTE: This is NOT the same as the educational online concussion informational course required at the beginning of the season through NFHS required upon registration.
4. Concussion Protocol: We have a strict concussion protocol at GHS to ensure the safety of our athletes. Once an athlete receives a concussion or experiences concussion symptoms, they will be held out of play and must see their PCP. A doctor's note is required from this visit and should be submitted to the Athletic Trainer. This helps us alert nurses, teachers and counselors in case the student needs accommodations for school. The athlete will remain out of play until their symptoms resolve. Once symptom free, the athlete will return to the doctor for clearance and re-take the SWAY assessment. Once the athlete has doctor's clearance and their SWAY assessment scores are within baseline, they will begin a 5-day return to play protocol (you can read this protocol in the important links below). If the athlete remains symptom free throughout the protocol, they may return fully to their sport.
5. Epi-pens and Inhalers: should be kept on the player at all time in their sports bag or alternatively can be given to the coach to be kept in the team medical kit.
6. School Insurance: All athletes are covered by the school insurance should an incident occur. If your child is injured playing sports, and your insurance does not cover the related medical mills, the school's insurance will likely pay for them. Please see the link below for more information on student accident medical insurance.
8. Emergency Medical Binders: The Medical binders are handed out to the Head Coaches of each sport & Level. In these binders is a print out from the registration form that all parents have filled out on Family ID for each individual athlete. Please be sure that all emergency contact information and special medical conditions are up to date. This will insure our Sports Medicine Team/Athletics can attend to your Athlete with the best approach possible.
9. Up-To-Date Physicals: Please make sure all student athletes have an up-to-date physical at all times. Physicals expire every 13 months. If you are unable to schedule a PCP appointment for an updated physical before the season begins, please contact our school health center for a physical with nurse Linda Gipstein:
NFHS Student-Athlete Concussion Course
Every GHS/O'Maley Student-Athlete must complete this course once for Middle School and again for High School Athletic Career. Completion of the course will cover your Middle School and then your High School athletics Career. Once completed please upload the Certificate of Completion to your FamilyID account or email a copy to the Athletic Trainer or Athletic Director
SWAY Baseline Assessment (click for instructions)
- Download the SWAY app on your smart phone or tablet - SWAY Medical
- a code will be given to you shortly after registration
- Do NOT skip any questions
- Take the test with no distractions and seriously! All test are reviewed and will be flagged if scoring is too low
- If Post-Injury test is taken then it must be completed at GHS with the Athletic Trainer
Report of a Head Injury during Sports Season
Please fill out this form if an athlete sustains a concussion and the GHS Athletic Trainer is not present.
Medical Clearance and Authorization / Return to Play after Concussion Form
Schools are required to use the Department of Public Health's Medical Clearance and Authorization Form or school-based equivalent prior to a student returning to play.
Student Accident Medical Insurance Protection Information
Please discuss with GHS Athletics Athletic Trainer before submitting claim.
GHS Concussion Protocol
Injury Management: A Key Component of Prescription Opioid Misuse Prevention
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