Last month, the medical and sports communities of the southeast joined together at an Emergency Preparation for Athletics Course hosted by Louisiana State University. Our very own Dr. Walpert was one of a handful of invited speakers at the conference, and our friends at Athens Regional Medical Center were among the event’s sponsors.
The course holds a special significance to the staff at Athens Brain & Spine and ARMC because it was created following the cervical spine injury of Southern University football player Devon Gales. The Gales family and Southern University saw an opportunity to bring together national experts and the athletic community to raise the bar on emergency care for athletes with a focused continuing education conference aimed at teaching physicians, EMTs and sports medicine personnel. We are fortunate enough to be a part of Devon’s care team, and his positivity throughout this trying time has been a light for all of us. We hope that by contributing to the Emergency Care Course we can continue to make a difference in the lives of athletes who have experienced similar situations as Devon’s, while educating others in the hope of preventing future athletics-related emergencies.
We were privileged to be among so many others from the medical community. Among the attendees invited there were 150 medical personnel from the Southwestern Athletic Conference schools and Southeastern Conference schools, as well as representatives and doctors from local emergency medical services and hospitals. The course covered a wide range of emergency conditions common in athletics and the proper responses to take if one arises. We were able to learn from each other about best practices in these situations and practice scenario-based athletic emergency techniques.
This course is so important for all medical professionals because of its ability to educate and train us to respond quickly in situations of crisis. At Athens Brain & Spine we continually strive for excellence in medicine and patient care, and if we can make a difference in an athlete’s quality of life following an injury, then it will be well worth it.
For more on this story:
http://www.lsu.edu/mediacenter/news/2016/06/30emergencycarecourse.tk.php http://www.swac.org/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=211061291