Adrian Dunn, a Certified Athletic Trainer with Northern Carolina Orthopaedics, now EmergeOrtho, held a training for Roanoke Rapids /Halifax county first responders.
Dunn is the Athletic Trainer for Roanoke Rapids High School. The training covered football equipment removal in athletes with possible neck fractures. Over the last year the National Athletic Trainers Association through their consensus statement as well as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has made the recommendation that football equipment be removed prior to transport to the hospital. The reasons for this are several: at the game there will be the correct tools for removal, the staff with the team has the knowledge for proper removal, also if the athlete experiences a rapid decline in route to a medical facility the EMT or Paramedic will have full access to the athlete’s body for CPR and other invasive lifesaving techniques. In the rare instance that advanced lifesaving techniques must be used there is usually only one paramedic on our county ambulances, and removal of equipment in a moving vehicle by one person will greatly increase the chance of causing further injury.
“The reason I put on this training with the Halifax County EMS, Roanoke Rapids Fire Department, and the Roanoke Valley Rescue Squad was to ensure going into this football season in the event this type of injury occurs everyone will be on the same page and will have practiced the technique. This type of training is for all of the kids who will be playing football in Halifax County, from Midget League to High School. While this training only included those first responders in Halifax County I would be more than happy to expand out to the surrounding counties.”