You have a senior, star athlete with a knee injury that requires surgery. He's 18 and has potential to go to the next level and play. He and his parents want him to play without having surgery so as not to limit his abilities to move up. The parents have taken their son to several physicians all of whom have agreed that he needs what would be season-ending surgery. You are receiving pressure from the parents, player and coaches to play him despite what you know to be a potentially catastrophic knee injury.
What do you do?
Unfortunately, situations like these do happen and we, young athletic trainers, have to rely on our education and experience and make the right decision.
You are in a lose-lose situation. You let him play with a waiver signed by the parents and possibly the physician, he gets hurt worse, you lose (maybe everything if it gets to court despite your waiver). You don't let him play, everyone is upset with you, you lose. (There have even been cases of litigation against AT's and MD's for future possible earnings.)
The bottom line is, it is our liability. It is our responsibility. What a weight!
Luckily for me, this is not my case, but it is happening right now in California.
What would you do?
3 comments:
I have been in that situation. And it depends on the athlete. Luckily I played 3rd base in softball and I could finish a summer season with a braced up knee with a hidden ACL tear behind it. I was able to get to the next level because I wasn't in my high school spring season at the time...but I say if he is serious about playing at the next level, you have to do what you can to get him to have surgery now. The future matters most to athletes when they sit and think about it.
Carissa brings up a tough situation. As someone who has been around for a while and has also been employed by schools that have an extremely high emphasis on athletics in general but football in specific this has happened to me more than once. What the secondary school athletic trainer should remember is that a parent can not sign away the rights of a minor. This is even if it is their own child. The coach needs to understand that having a kid for one game is not worth that same kid suffering an injury that will be potentially long term. If a medical doctor says that a student athlete can not play then they can not play. Period. End of discussion. The young athletic trainer should stick to their guns in this situation. Oftentimes in a situation such as this the parents will "doctor shop" in an attempt to find a doctor that will release the student to participate. It's important for the athletic trainer to make sure that the doctor that releases the student to participation is at the same level of specialization or higher. A pediatrician should not be allowed to release a student athlete that an orthopedist held out of activity. I could go on forever on this topic, but we as the athletic trainer should have the kid's best interest at heart. The athletic trainer should not ever make a decision about whether or not a specific kid can play based solely on how that kid's participation will affect the outcome of the game. I alway tell the kids and their parents that I want them to be able to play out in the yard with their kids and not have them be affected by some injury that they suffered when they were 16 and were allowed to return to activity too soon.
I think that is great advice, Mike. It can sometimes be intimidating and may not always be popular, but you have to stand strong.
Post a Comment