Member Resource Library
August 2025
NATA’s Council on Practice Advancement (COPA) Public Safety panel presents a critical conversation featuring experts from the Public Safety Athletic Trainers Society and COPA addressing the rise in preventable deaths and life-threatening incidents among law enforcement academy recruits—particularly those linked to heat illness and sickle cell trait complications. Moderator: Maura Shea, DAT, LAT, ATC, Executive Director, Public Safety Athletic Trainers Society Panelists: Anna August, MS, LAT, ATC with Fairfax County Police Department, Traci Tauferner, LAT, ATC, CSCS with Advanced Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine and Miranda Zamora-Williams, DAT, LAT, ATC with OrthoLive
August 2022
Exertional sickling is a medical emergency occurring in athletes carrying the sickle cell trait. When the red blood cells (RBC) change shape or “sickle” this causes a build up of RBCs in small blood vessels, leading to decreased blood flow. The drop in blood flow leads to a breakdown of muscle tissue and cell death, known as fulminant rhabdomyolysis.