University of Georgia Athletics
UGA Sports Medicine Staff Prepares For New Year
August 03, 2006 | General
ATHENS, Ga. --- With the start of a new athletic season on the horizon, the University of Georgia Athletic Association's sports medicine staff hosted an emergency management training program on Wednesday.
The program was open to staff and graduate assistant athletic trainers, team physicians, emergency medical technicians, 911 dispatchers, campus police, and event management staff. Topics included Georgia's Emergency Action Plan as well as care policies and procedures for both student-athletes and spectators. The attendees also toured all of Georgia's athletic venues.
The session concluded with a LifeNet helicopter landing drill on the football practice fields.
"Emergency preparation is essential for all athletic programs," said Ron Courson, Georgia's Director of Sports Medicine. "Fortunately, most injuries sustained during athletics are relatively minor. However, potentially life- or limb-threatening injuries in athletics are unpredictable and may occur without warning. Proper management of these injuries is critical and should be carried out by trained medical personnel to minimize risk to the injured or ill athletes. Just as an athletic team, sports medicine team members must practice together on a regular basis in order to perform well. Training exercises such as this with all of the different medical personnel involved help us prepare to handle emergencies effectively."
