NATA Now

More than 185 leaders in the athletic training profession recently gathered in Dallas for NATA’s 2015 Joint Committee Meeting, an exciting weekend of professional collaboration. NATA has formed volunteer committees who lead the charge in certain topic areas and job settings, and those groups gathered together to compare notes and see how they could join forces to get even more accomplished in 2015 and beyond.

Part of the programming including the following presentations from NATA staff directors. Click through to read about each topic!

 

One of NATA’s primary objectives is to provide top-notch professional development opportunities for our members. Anita James, NATA’s Director of Knowledge Initiatives, oversees this department, and her team works in collaboration with several member committees to address issues related to AT education. Anita gave an overview of the group’s current efforts and upcoming plans for 2015 to attendees at NATA’s recent Joint Committee Meeting, and we have summarized her presentation below.
 
Supporting Education from A to Z

Our legislative team was very busy last week! NATA supported the introduction of three separate bills: the SAFE PLAY Act, the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act and the Secondary School Student Athletes’ Bill of Rights.
 

H.R. 829 / S. 436: SAFE PLAY (Supporting Athletes, Families and Educators to Protect the Lives of Athletic Youth) Act

Introduced Feb. 10, 2015 in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and in the House by Rep. Lois Capps, CA-24, and Rep. Bill Pascrell, NJ-09

Tamesha Kennerson Logan, NATA’s Director of Marketing & Public Relations, gave a presentation to the attendees at the NATA Joint Committee Meeting in January 2015 that outlined several strategic initiatives in the national Marketing & Communications (MARCOMM) Plan for 2015. Two of the most exciting projects include the national website redesign and targeted communications plan.   
 

Website Redesign

NATA is excited to announce the introduction of the Supporting Athletes, Families and Educators to Protect the Lives of Athletic Youth (SAFE PLAY) Act in the Senate and House on Feb. 10, 2015. Introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and in the U.S. House by Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (NJ-09), SAFE PLAY also recommends a multidisciplinary approach to research and federal support to ensure student athletes’ safety in schools.

When we hear about catastrophic injury and death amongst athletes, we typically think about concussion1, cardiac arrest2 and exertional heatstroke3.  Exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) is rarely mentioned alongside the “big three”, despite its insidious extension into more diverse sporting events beyond the ultramarathon, where it was first described three decades ago4.   The recent and tragic deaths of two otherwise healthy 17-year old high school football players from hyponatremic encephalopathy5,6, underscores the need for more education towards translating evidenced-b

NATA members often ask us how we select our convention city each year. It’s a complicated process that takes into account many factors. NATA’s Director of Meeting Management Lori Marker took the time at our recent Joint Committee Meeting to explain the process to attendees. Her presentation received such great feedback that we thought we would summarize it here on the blog for those unable to attend. You have questions, we have answers!
 

Although we are still working to educate the public about the value and contributions of athletic trainers, it’s always exciting to see the news media present stories that highlight the lives and accomplishments of ATs. Recently, we have come across several stories that have done just that. Since you might not have seen them already, we wanted to collect them here so you might have a chance to read them too. We often post articles we come across on our Twitter feed, in addition to important news and updates from NATA.