athletic trainer to treat

As the wide receiver runs down the sideline, he takes a hit and awkwardly lands on his hand, breaking it. It’s a typical scenario that athletic trainers and spectators see in games. With sports increasing in popularity, injuries are becoming more frequent– and the need for athletic trainers is increasing.

Nation Ford’s Samantha Molony, one of the school’s two athletic trainers, has been working at Nation Ford since 2017.

“The event with Damar Hamlin brings light to things that have been happening, and it shows that athletic trainers are essential,” Molony said. “The preparation and emergency action plan they used was put into play perfectly.”

The trainers always have a medical safety plan and assign positions ahead of time to ensure the best course of action. They update the medical emergency plan every year and make sure that all of the students assisting are trained to know what to do when a player gets hurt.

“Preparation is a very key thing,” Molony said. “A lot of things happen behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t know about.”

When athletic trainers are working at sports events, they are observing, prepping, and thinking about what may happen, and what they would do in the event of an injury.

“I think about how I would treat my patient and who’s helping me,” Molony said. “Trainers have to be ready at all times to ensure if somebody does get hurt, they are there to help.”

Students in Sports Med 3 also assist the athletic trainer after they learn skills from the first two classes.

“Concepts and skills that are taught in Sports Med 3 that enable students to be efficient members of our support staff are hydration, recognition of a heat crisis, preparation of ice immersion tanks, environmental conditions that place athletes at risk, taping, wrapping, bracing of the upper extremity, and signs and symptoms of a brain injury,” athletic trainer and Sports Med teacher Patricia Curley said.

Speed is another part of being an athletic trainer or a student.

“We also stress being quick with care,” Curley said. “If the students are in charge of cleaning a wound, disinfecting blood from that athlete and their uniform, and dressing the wound so the athlete can get back to playing, they have to be as quick as possible while still doing the task correctly.”

Being an athletic trainer means that there is pressure knowing you’re the one who has to help people when they get hurt.

“The most high-pressure situation I have been in was during the football season. The student

by Connor Ford

had a cervical spine injury,” Molony said. “We had to use a spine board, but we were prepared and used the medical emergency plan and everything went smoothly.”

Athletes want to think there is someone there for them in case they get hurt.

“It felt good knowing that I had someone to help me when I got injured on the field,” Falcon linebacker C.J. Smith (‘25) said.

The players aren’t the only ones who want to know someone is there for them. Parents also want to know if someone is there in case of an emergency.

“Knowing there was an athletic trainer on the field was comforting,” Smith’s mother said. “The athletic trainers have been helpful and supportive during the whole process.”

Athletic trainers aren’t just at the games–they are also at the practices.

“I usually stay at the school until all of the practices finish,” Molony said. “I stay in the athletic trainer’s room, a central location to all practices.”

Despite the increasing number of injuries, all schools don’t have athletic trainers.

“A lot of schools have none,” Molony said. “We are fortunate to have two here at Nation Ford, but we still are spread thinly on nights that have events, so even we are understaffed.”

The number of athletic trainers is expected to increase by 17% by the year 2031, according to the U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics. The number of athletic trainers will grow, so when injuries occur during games, schools will have someone there to treat injuries.

“I wanted to become an athletic trainer to help people,” Molony said. “It was the perfect career for me.”