When Athletic Trainers and EMS Don’t See Eye to Eye... and How One School Fixed It!

What began more than two decades ago as an often awkward, territorial relationship between Athletic Trainers and first responders has evolved in Amherst into a coordinated, on-field partnership centered on a shared mindset: “our patient.”

That shift—from “my patient” versus “your patient”—didn’t happen overnight. Instead, it grew through years of shared experiences, joint training, and hard lessons learned during high-risk athletic events that exposed gaps in communication and emergency planning.

Today, the collaboration between the Athletic Training staff at Amherst High School and the Amherst Fire District is increasingly viewed as a model for how EMS and Athletic Trainers can work side by side.

“In general, sometimes there’s kind of a standoff between EMS and Athletic Trainers,” said Jodi Waltenberg, who has worked with Amherst since 1999. “We noticed, hey, we kind of have something special here.”

Early on, Waltenberg said, the dynamic was often strained.

“It was very much, ‘I’m in charge on the field. If I need EMS, I’ll call you,’” she said.

“That was common,” added Adam Meshak, assistant chief of the Amherst Fire District. “It was very territorial—‘my patient, your patient.’”

The first steps toward change came through basic, practical training. But true collaboration didn’t emerge until a series of critical incidents in 2016 and 2017, including a cross-country meet held in extreme heat.

“It was the perfect storm,” Waltenberg said. “There was no communication between the Athletic Trainers and EMS. It was messy.”

A similar football emergency that week further exposed conflicting protocols, particularly around exertional heat illness.

“In athletic training, it’s cool first, transport second,” Meshak explained. “In EMS, we’re taught ice packs and fluids—and that’s not rapid enough.”

Those events prompted a broader rethink. By 2021, Meshak, Waltenberg, and medical director Michael Clark formally aligned protocols, embedding Athletic Training best practices directly into EMS procedures and vice versa through Aspirus.

“It’s not a memorandum of understanding,” Meshak said. “It’s written directly into our protocols.”

The results are now visible on the sidelines, with EMS providers working alongside Waltenberg during higher-risk sports.

“We stopped talking about your patient versus my patient,” Meshak said. “It’s our patient.”

While Waltenberg acknowledges the approach isn’t universal—especially as athletes compete in other districts—she believes Amherst’s experience proves what’s possible.

“We know our practices are not happening everywhere else,” she said. “But we’re showing that this works.”

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