Rebecca Neal '19
Only three days after starting an athletic trainer position at Columbia Central High School in Brooklyn, Mich., Neal was put to the test in a big way. A student-athlete began complaining of cramps and a migraine headache during an August football practice and Neal recognized the symptoms as being life-threatening. On the third day of the high school’s evening football practice, she was extremely relieved to have had the quality training needed to handle a sudden life and death situation when treating a severely overheated athlete. The players were not in pads but did wear helmets. However, it had been a very hot and humid day.
“He was complaining that his arms and legs were tingling and his feet were going numb, and he said he had a migraine,” Neal said of the young athlete, explaining that he did not start practice with a headache. “That was an indicator for me, and he felt nauseous as well. There is a big push in the athletic training profession for treating heat exhaustion. To treat it you have to begin quickly. You have half an hour to begin cooling the athlete.” Columbia Central does not have a tub, so Neal used the “taco method” where a tarp is held up and open by several people, and cool water and ice are dumped on the overheated athlete inside.
“EMS (Emergency Medical Services) was activated because I didn’t have a rectal thermometer,” she said other methods of taking temperature, from the forehead or armpit, are not as accurate. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics arrived on scene and took over care of the athlete. Neal said Henry Ford Allegiance health system is currently trying to provide all of the athletic trainers working at its contracted high schools with upgraded thermometers.
Neal credits her heroic actions to having solid training for the situation.
“I’m thankful because the Adrian College athletic training program has such a strong emphasis on emergency medicine,” she said. “And through that, the situations they put us in we were always practicing our different skills. Two years ago, they created a mass-casualty simulation on the football field and I was a part of that as a senior.” She was also thankful to have worked with the Madison Fire Department while studying for her master’s degree.
“I’m just thankful for what I was taught at Adrian College to be able to recognize those symptoms,” she said. “Because without recognizing those signs and symptoms, it could have been a different treatment, a different outcome. So, just that I was able to recognize and treat right away, I’m very thankful I’ve had that training so I was able to save his life.” “As an athletic trainer, being in health care, for me this was just my job,” Neal said. “They always tell us we advocate for athletes. So, if an athlete needs me, I’m going to do whatever I can to help them.”
