Athletic trainers must be more than budget item in EBR

Jul 09, 2023

Stock prep football photo, Thursday, September 23, 2021, at Memorial Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

East Baton Rouge Parish schools could go retro — and not in a good way — for up to 10 days starting Monday.

Yes, Monday … the first official fall practice day for LHSAA football teams. It may be the second-best day of the year for many people, if you count Christmas as No. 1.

But as EBR’s high schools prepare to practice during a record heat wave without certified athletic trainers in sight or on site, there are reasons for concern.

Last week, I reported that the end of a five-year contract in May with Ochsner to provide athletic trainers, EBR staffing changes and a 2023-24 budget approved just last week leave EBR high schools relying on first-aid coordinators trained to perform CPR until this void is filled.

First-aid certification classes were held last week and will be held again this week. Classes to teach coaches how to tape athletes also are planned.

Coaches shared their frustrations with new EBR athletic director Christina Anderson during a meeting last week. Anderson listened and is moving forward with plans to get multiple groups — Ochsner, Baton Rouge General and perhaps one other entity — to provide athletic trainer coverage for EBR schools hopefully within a couple of weeks.

Grant money may be needed to do this. And with the start of school, a lot is going on. I get it.

But ...

This is not a good look for a school system that often gets more than its share of criticism. EBR has plenty of outstanding teachers, coaches and administrators. This is 2023 and not 1983, when athletic trainers were a pipe-dream luxury on the high school level.

Summers are hotter, particularly in the South, and the standard of care, knowledge of heat/humidity and liability issues have all grown exponentially. Since we published the story on EBR’s situation, my phone has blown up with messages from concerned athletic trainers and coaches.

The Korey Stringer Institute lists Louisiana as among the top five states in terms of heat-related policies. There are LHSAA and BESE policies in place.

However, providing an athletic trainer cannot be mandated. Plus, providing athletic trainers for a school district with 10 or more schools, such as EBR, is not easy.

Several people implored, “But this parish does this. And another parish does it this way.” That's all fine and good, but none of them have as many high schools as EBR. Also of note: Around one-third of high schools across the nation have athletic trainers. ESPN reported last week that 37% do.

That same report said 67 high school football deaths related to heat issues have been recorded over the past four decades. Those odds don’t sound bad, you think? It’s true that we have learned more about heat/humidity and the best times to practice, fluid intake, taking practice breaks, etc. over the years. Right?

But remember Korey Stringer. He was an offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings who died 22 years ago this week after suffering a heat stroke during training camp.

Think it could not happen here? It did almost three years ago when Denham Springs offensive lineman Remy Hidalgo died.

The harsh reality is that even with athletic trainers in place, tragedies still happen. No one wants another one.

The EBR school system needs to close this gap sooner, not later.

Email Robin Fambrough at [email protected]