Peachtree – Erlanger Western Carolina Hospital is responsible for having one of the most crucial members of local sports teams, athletic trainers.
Brian Hass, physicians assistant at Erlanger Western Carolina, spoke about what the athletic trainers do, the types of injuries they treat and injury prevention. Hass grew up in Murphy and has relationships with each local athletic program.
The trainers, who work primarily with Andrews and Murphy high schools, also work with athletes of any age. Each high school that has a football program is assigned an athletic trainer from Erlanger.
Hass said even though Hiwassee Dam and Tri-County Early College high schools do not have Erlanger-provided trainers, Erlanger’s care is extended to those athletes as much as they do to Andrews and Murphy.
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Speaking on what the trainers do, Hass said, “They’re the ones that are talking to them every day. They’re the ones that are providing treatment every day. You know, they spend more time with our athletes probably than any of us in the health-care system. So their involvement in helping to take care of the athletes in this community is second to none.”
Hass spoke about what kinds of injuries they see. He said they see a wide variety in each sport.
“There’s a wide variety when it comes to your contact sports, I mean, I think concussion is one that everyone tends to think about and one that has been brought to light more so in the last probably 10-15 years compared to years before that. And I think we’re kind of on the cusp of learning how big of an impact concussions can play in the future of our patients and how it can impact them throughout life,” Hass said.
“But when it comes to other types of injuries, you know the list is diverse. I mean we see, you know I think Dr. [Eric] Clark and I here regularly see athletes, whether it’s football, baseball, soccer, track. We take care of the marching band, which some people don’t consider the marching band a sport. I’ve seen what they have to do, all the things they have to lift. It’s definitely a sport.
“So you know, I think in general we see upper extremity injuries, lower extremity injuries. You know, you’ve got your standard strain, sprain, so we take care of minor things to very complex things here. Fortunately, the athletic trainers, with their background and with their education … and in their specialty they’re able to off-load a lot of pressure on our orthopedic staff because of their abilities and their skill-set, so having them here is definitely a plus.”
Hass said concussions are a common injury. Speaking on the signs and symptoms of a concussion, he said, “it’s not always obvious, but I think some of the signs are obviously, you know, a loss of consciousness might be probably the most concerning symptom when you talk about concussions. Concussions kind of stems also into head and neck injuries.
“So in addition to a potential loss of consciousness, athletes could exhibit signs of nausea or vomiting. It’s another common side effect after developing a concussion, they can have sensitivity to light or sensitivity to noise. Sometimes they’re recent memory Is changed and you know they can be confused about where they’re at in time of what’s transpired in the last few minutes. So I think a change in memory is something that you can see.”
Hass added that his best advice is to be educated on the signs and symptoms of a concussion and to not ignore the signs of a potential concussion.
In terms of injury prevention, Hass said it’s best to work on flexibility, as well as stretching and taking care of the athletes body pre- and post-game. He put emphasis on the fact that athletes should be taking care of their bodies in order to be healthy and prevent injury. He also said some things are out of the athletes control, like what happens in a game.
Hass spoke on what happens in the event of an injury. In most cases, athletic trainers at the schools see them first, and they can also get in direct contact with the doctors or hospital.
“A lot of times the trainers are the first people that are there for that athlete, so the responsibility of updating the coaching staff while also educating the parents and that’s probably much more stressful even than what I’m describing it to be. At that point, you know here specifically with our program, our athletic trainers, they have my personal number. They have Dr. Clark’s personal number. They have the back line to our office. So Dr. Clark and I offer our services to them 24/7,” Hass said.
“Any question, any concern they have direct access to us and it’s through those conversations where we ultimately decide, ‘Hey, look, is this something that can be managed by the athletic trainer?’ Do we need to get that athlete Into our office and do an evaluation? And if so, at that point depending on the injury, that decides your treatment plan. That can be as simple as conservative treatment with medications, injections, therapy, some time off, that type of stuff, all the way to surgical intervention when that’s indicated so.”
He concluded with personal gratitude to the county and various staff for how much they help local athletes, as well as hoping for “positive change” for this area.
“Personally, I would just like to thank Cherokee County and Erlanger for the support that they show our athletes in this area because. I personally know how important it is to these communities. I think the athletes appreciate it…I hope that we continue to grow and make positive change for our athletes in this area. It’s really just an appreciation that I wanted to make sure that was out there for everyone involved, from the school to the hospital system, our trainers, our providers, our nurses, our front staff, everybody that’s involved in the community. It’s a good thing for our kids, so I truly appreciate it.
“I hope most people do, too.”