How Athletic Trainers are Beating the Heat this Fall

As another summer heatwave blasts the country, we wanted to pass along some great tips that we found from Virginia Athletic Trainers!

In this article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, ATs discuss how they are working hard to beat the heat. 

According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, fifty football players have died from heat stroke in the last 55 years and, as of 2023, we're going through another record-setting hot summer. 

July 2023 was hotter than any other month in the global temperature record, according to an analysis by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).

“This July was massively warmer than any previous July and any previous month on record, which goes back to 1880,” said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt.

So, how are ATs dealing with it all? 

Justin Walker, an Athletic Trainer for Old Dominion, required all athletes to get an EKG and echo caridogram to pre-screen for issues ahead of camp. This gives the staff information about any pre-existing heart conditions, which can be made worse from excessive heat.

“We are prepared for the worst. If anything were to happen, we know exactly what to do. And myself and my staff are all equipped to do it and makes it easier to know that we’ve all kind of went through that whole training with everybody.”

Four additional Athletic Trainers give advice that might help your program! 

So, check out the rest of article and try to stay as cool as possible out there! 

*Photo - Joe Olivadoti, Richmond’s head football athletic trainer - Daniel Sangjib Min, TIMES-DISPATCH