St. Francis High School | College Preparatory

Athletic Trainer: Sarah Anderson, ATC
School: 630.668.5800 ext 1211
E-mail: sanderson@sfhsnet.org

SPARTAN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

As your daughter/son prepares to participate in the athletic program at St. Francis High School, we would like to take this opportunity to outline the policies and procedures for the Spartan Athletic Training Room. We do this hoping that we can have a successful program where there is excellent communication between the athlete, parents, coaches, physicians, and Athletic Trainer.The sports medicine staff is composed of a Certified Athletic Trainer and team physician. The Athletic Training Room is a health care facility where an athlete receives treatment, care, and preventative assistance as well as rehabilitation. The athletic trainer is responsible for providing services in an attempt to maintain the athlete’s level of competition at its highest degree. PROCEDURES It is the athlete’s responsibility to report to the athletic trainer and coach of all injuries, and illnesses, as soon as possible. In the event of an emergency, the athletic trainer will:

Notify parents, or emergency contact if necessary. The athletic trainer will secure additional health care and related transportation.
Call the paramedics in the event that a parent or emergency contact cannot be reached
Call the paramedics when the injury is limb/life threatening, then call the parent/emergency contact. If an illness/injury occurs, that is non-life threatening, the athlete shall report immediately to the athletic trainer. If the injury is not reported to the athletic trainer, and a physician is consulted, a note from the physician is required for return to participation. If you son/daughter has the need to see a physician due to an athletic injury, we are familiar with area physicians who treat athletic injuries and understand the high school athlete. We will also be happy to work with your family physician.

A medical referral form will be given to the athlete when the need for further medical care is warranted. The form is designed to provide means of communication between the physician, the family, and the athletic trainer.ATHLETES WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE AFTER BEING SEEN BY A PHYSICIAN WITHOUT A NOTE!Decisions regarding the availability of an athlete for practice or game participation requires efforts of the athlete, parents, coachs, physician, athletic trainer, and athletic director. Decisions will be made based on sound medical judgment with the outcome being good athletic health care for the athlete. The following guidelines will be used to determine player status:

If an athlete is under the care of a physician, the physician shall determine the availability of the athlete. Under no circumstance shall the coach allow the athlete to participate without specific directions from the sports medicine staff. A “no play” decision by the physician will always be followed by the School.
If the athlete is NOT under the care of a physician, the responsibility regarding the availability of the athlete for participation rests with the Athletic Trainer.
If the athlete or coach disregards the decision, the athletic director will be notified.

HOURS: The Athletic Training Room will be open from 2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. on regular school days. There will be coverage for all home events. The athletic trainer will travel with Sophomore and Varsity football. On non-school days, the Athletic Training Room will be open based on practice/games schedule.Instructions for care of an athletic injury at home:R.I.C.E. principleR: restI: ice*C: compression (elastic wrap, but not too tight)E: elevation (above the heart)If the athlete cannot bear weight, then they should use some kind of support (crutches).*Ice: you can use many different forms of icing. If it is in bag form keep it on the injured body part for 20 minutes. Take off the ice and let the body part completely thaw out. Then continue icing. If the injury body part is the ankle, you will get better results by icing in an ice bucket. To do this: put water and ice (more water than ice) in a cooler/bucket/garbage can. Submerge the whole foot/ankle for 10 minutes. Take out after the 10 minutes and let the ankle thaw out completely. Continue this process.Various forms of heat may interfere with the healing process. This includes BenGay, hot soaks, Epsom salt, warm whirlpools, heating pads, etc. Using these may lengthen the recovery process.Consult your family physician if signs and/or symptoms of the injury increase or worsen. Be sure to get any treatment recommendations and activity restrictions in writing for the Athletic Trainer to follow.St. Francis Athletic Training will follow the Center for Disease Control guidelines for head injuries/concussions. These guidelines will be discussed with the athlete, parents, and coaches per incident.If there are any questions, please contact the Athletic Trainer
Contact Information: Sarah Anderson, ATC
School Number: 630-668-5800 ext 1211
School Cell: 630-649-3907
E-mail: sanderson@sfhsnet.org