Unqualified Athletic Trainers Free to Practice in California, Risk to Athletes
California Athletic Trainers’ Association Calls for Statewide Regulation Today
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - April 17, 2006
The state of California is a dumping ground for unlicensed, unqualified athletic trainers. Currently, California does not regulate the practice of athletic training, meaning anyone can label themselves an “athletic trainer” without holding the proper credentials.
The California Athletic Trainer’s Association (CATA) has announced it will present a bill in the State Capital today (1p.m./2 p.m.) calling for a defined scope of practice for athletic training to help weed out unqualified athletic trainers working with California’s athletes and consumers. A CATA panel member presenting “The Athletic Trainers Act” will be available for interviews at the Capital. For more information visit http://fwata.org/com_govaffairs.html.
Problem: a certified athletic trainer in a surrounding state that licenses athletic training loses his/her license to practice.
Solution: he/she can come to California to practice without any government regulation.
Athletes young, old, pro, collegiate and amateur are at SERIOUS risk for injury or worse, disability, working with an unqualified athletic trainer. Question is: Who’s taking care of young athletes in high school sports?
Athletic trainers are everywhere, not just with pro sports teams, but also with high schools, colleges and even in major California corporations like UPS and SDG&E. Because no standard set of regulations exist for athletic training, the proliferation of athletic trainers in California presents a serious health hazard to athletes in our state, until now!
Certified athletic trainers are fighting to be defined in the state of California.
California’s certified athletic trainers lack a clear definition for the level of expertise they offer, and on April 17 a new bill will be introduced in Sacramento calling for a state-recognized definition and scope of practice for athletic training, making it mandatory for those who practice as an athletic trainer to register with the State. Support and passage of this bill will protect the public from unqualified practitioners - making it a crime to work as an athletic trainer, call oneself an athletic trainer or provide athletic training services without being registered.
Please consider an interview with CATA’s Governmental Affairs Chair and high school athletic trainer, Mike West, while in Sacramento to talk about the California athletic trainers’ Fight to be Defined campaign. He can talk more about the serious risk to athletes and the importance of making sure every high school athletic team has a qualified athletic trainer on staff, in addition to what registration and licensure means for the profession. Parents of young athletes need to be educated about who’s working with their children.
More than stereotypical ankle tapers, athletic trainers are recognized as allied health professionals by the American Medical Association (AMA). As physical medicine experts, they are there for athletes and other physically active clients making clinical decisions regarding performance training, injury prevention, on-site emergency care, and not least, rehabilitation.
About the California Athletic Trainers Association (CATA):
Athletic trainers are health care professionals who specialize in the provision of physical medicine and rehabilitation services, serving as physician extenders in the prevention, assessment and treatment of acute and chronic injuries and illnesses. The California Athletic Trainers Association (http://www.cata-usa.org) represents and supports 2,200 members of the athletic training profession through communication and education.
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