John Meskimen (left), a grad assistant athletic trainer at Southmont High School, and Thomas Greffly, a grad assistant athletic trainer at Crawfordsville High School, demonstrate how athletic trainers care for injured athletes. The athletic trainers from Crawfordsville, Southmont, North Montgomery and Wabash College worked with medics from the Crawfordsville Fire Department this week as part of preparation for the upcoming sports season.
Paul Miller, the Division Chief of EMS for the Crawfordsville Fire Department, addresses medics during training Wednesday. Doug Horton (left), the Athletic Trainer at Crawfordsville High School, talked to medics about how athletic trainers care of injured athletes. Also pictured is Nathaniel Busenbark (center), a Crawfordsville firefighter/paramedic.
Crawfordsville paramedics teamed up this week with local athletic trainers to go over plans in the case of serious injuries during athletic events this school year.
The Crawfordsville Fire/EMS Department is either on-site during contests or could be those responding in situations they’re needed.
The athletic trainers from Crawfordsville, Southmont and North Montgomery high schools along with Wabash College spent time with CFD’s three shifts over three days this week to make sure everyone is on the same page.
“We always like to collaborate with them once a year and do training with them,” said Doug Horton, the athletic trainer at Crawfordsville High School. “So if something bad happened and we needed to use them on the field or if they needed to be called out, then we’re just on the same page.”
They’ve been doing it each year since 2014. It serves as a refresher course for the department’s paramedics and helps get new hires up to speed.
“For them to give us that training and share with us their expertise and their protocol, it keeps us proactive with our protocols and equipment so we’re providing the best care for our community,” said Paul Miller, the Division Chief of EMS at the Crawfordsville Fire Department. “We want to be progressive in everything we do. That’s us working outside the walls of our fire department and getting in and around multiple providers.”
For an hour Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the athletic trainers showed the paramedics on each of the department’s three shifts what they do when athletes are seriously injured. They went over the protocol for neck injuries, vacuum splints used by the schools and rectal thermometers used in the case of a heat stroke.
They also addressed prevention and treatment policies and emergency action plans.
“We surround ourselves with subject-matter experts everywhere we can,” Miller said. “(Athletic) trainers, physicians, everything.”
