There is a lot happening at NATA! Stay up to date on what’s to come each month in advocacy, engagement and development in this NATA Now blog series. Check out what else is in store for April, and follow our communication channels throughout the month for more information!
Like much of the world, in March 2020, colleges and universities, as well as secondary schools, shut down to help stifle the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some colleges and universities, that meant students were sent home – that’s if they could go home. International students, graduate students and medical students who didn’t and couldn’t go home had to remain on campus.
In the near 60,000-person town of Marietta, Georgia, Jeff Hopp, LAT, ATC, joined Marietta High School in 2002 as the only athletic trainer on the sports medicine team, which also included a physician and six athletic training student aides.
Hiring athletic trainers to care for local public safety departments is gaining momentum in cities across the U.S. Because of the support and funding necessary to incorporate athletic training services into government budgets, finding their place in smaller communities to provide care might be intimidating to ATs.
Over the past year, collegiate athletic trainers on campuses big and small have stepped up to slow the spread of and manage the COVID-19 pandemic. While many ATs have transitioned to testing and even vaccinating in the athletics department, some institutions have turned to their athletic trainers to take the lead for the entire campus as essential health care providers.
There is a lot happening at NATA! Stay up to date on what’s to come each month in advocacy, engagement and development in this NATA Now blog series. Check out what else is in store for March, and follow our communication channels throughout the month for more information!
APTA, NATA Update.mp4 from National Athletic Trainers' Assn on Vimeo.
Update: Watch the above video of APTA President Sharon Dunn, PT, PhD, and NATA President Tory Lindley, MA, ATC, discussing the recently released joint policy principles.
Established in 2005, the NATA Political Action Committee (NATAPAC) has been the voice of the athletic training profession, seeking better working conditions, fair access and the right to practice for all athletic trainers across America. As a federal group, the NATAPAC provides campaign contributions to approved candidates on behalf of NATA. Nonpartisan, the NATAPAC gives primarily to candidates for the U.S. Senate or U.S.
As unpredictable as the last nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been for everyone, athletic trainers are uniquely trained to handle the unexpected. Some outreach athletic trainers deployed to the front lines in non-traditional roles, such as coronavirus screeners, became some of the first recommended groups to train and administer the COVID-19 vaccine, and to receive it.