Apr 8, 2020 4 min read

They are a valuable part of every athletic program.

But coaches are happy when they are not needed.

Athletic trainers keep players up and running with their expertise in treatment, rehabilitation and preventative care. Lately, there hasn’t been much to do as spring sports have been shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, some athletic trainers are giving their time and effort to hospital patients in Western Pennsylvania, tending to some of the emotional aspects of this trying time. This work will become even more important when the pandemic is predicted to reach its height in Western Pennsylvania over the next couple weeks.

Select Medical, the parent company to NovaCare Rehabilitation Corp., recently established a program in which athletic trainers can handle certain responsibilities for patients, freeing the hospital medical staff to do other work.

Brent Proulx, vice president of human resources for Select Medical in the outpatient division, said the company is offering a family support program, which links athletic trainers with specific hospitals and a specific set of patients.

“These are patients who can no longer receive visitors because of the virus,” said Proulx. “Families can’t visit. These are patients who are very ill, on ventilators, going through respiratory therapy, a lot of serious injuries.”

Twice a day, the athletic trainers contact family members with condition updates. Proulx said the program has been an overwhelming success. Another program assists in the virus screening process for a company’s employees.

“We allowed the athletic trainers to volunteer for this program because there was a need,” Proulx said. “It just made sense, a good fit.”

The athletic trainers can perform the tasks in the family support program from home.

Athletic training is a masters degree program, which requires two years of base work. Hours also are required by the National Athletic Training Association for its training program. The Board of Certification handles the certification test. Most states have a licensing requirement. Pass that and practitioners are ready to take up athletic training duties.

“The certification allows you to work with a lot of different (people), whether that is athletes, physically active folks, folks involved in industrial work. A lot of it, what you can do is dictated state by state by a practice act,” said John Gilmour, national director of sports medicine for Select Medical.

“Our main focus has been the care and treatment and return to sport for our athletes, but it has expanded as our company has grown.”

Select Medical has approximately 1,100 certified athletic trainers across the country. Most schools have long-standing working agreements with Select Medical, and athletic trainers have varying contract agreements with the schools.

NovaCare is one of the big three providers of athletic trainers to Western Pennsylvania. Allegheny Health Network and UPMC are the other two. Athletic trainers can also work as independent contractors.

Jessica Johns, assistant athletic head trainer at Duquesne University, is part of an eight-person staff of whom six are contracted directly by the university. She said a lot of individual contractors use the Go4Ellis app, which provides a platform that connects schools, teams and sports organizations with on-demand athletic trainers for games, practices, camps, clinics and tournaments

“This is usually for summer camps, little leagues, things that aren’t run through a school system,” said Johns. “Usually, school systems are organized and have people to advocate and hire health care professionals. But a lot of weekend and club teams don’t have that.

“We’re trying to give everyone access to athletic trainers and this app can help make sure if that. … I know that because school is not in session, a lot of athletic trainers have been laid off,” she added. “Those are the ones who can go onto the Go4Ellis site or look to volunteer. Some contracted through a clinic, and the clinic didn’t lay them off, might have to work in the clinic and test people.”

Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Health Network began manufacturing test kits for the COVID-19 virus last week and the opportunity might arise where athletic trainers can help with the production. The kits include a naso-pharyngeal swab, a tube containing viral transport media, two biohazard bags, labels and an instruction sheet.

Approximately 15 AHN employees volunteered to assemble specimen collection kits.

“We are ready to do whatever needs to be done to help,” said Craig Castor, supervisor of sports medicine for Allegheny Health Network.

“They (athletic trainers) have gone through some interview processes to see if the time and the need becomes more, see what they can do. It might become part of their job depending how this plays out. There are a lot of unknowns. When needed, we have to be ready to go.”

Allegheny Health Network provides athletic trainers from Erie to Pittsburgh.