We Have Met the Enemy, and It Is Us

T he athletic training profession has grown considerably since the 1970s. Now regulated in 48 of 50 states, athletic training is a profession that includes members sought after for their expertise and wisdom about the management of athletic injuries, and it is a profession that continually seeks to improve the educational compe-tency of its members. However, these advancements to the profession have created the possibility that we have become our own worst enemy. At the 2011 annual convention of the National Athletic Trainers' Association , I attended a roundtable discussion about laws and regulations. I was surprised by the conversations that ensued and by how many of the athletic trainers who attended are afraid of doing something to upset a coach. As health care practitioners, athletic trainers must overcome this notion that we have less authority than a coach or, in some cases, must report to a coach. Many legal cases demonstrate this point. For example, during the recent Ereck Plancher civil case 1 , involving the death of an athlete at the University of Central Florida due to sickle cell trait, it was reported that the coach may have ordered that the athletic trainers and water be removed from the fi eld. I am amazed that the coach would be able to demand such a thing. A portion of our profession seems to not know how to say " no. " Therefore, athletic trainers must do a better job in supporting and educating our colleagues during challenging situations—doing so involves the protection of our livelihood. In December 2011, the Joint Commission , which accredits and cer-tifi es more than 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, published an article about health care worker fatigue and patient safety. 2 The article ref-erenced many studies about the adverse effects of fatigue, such as decreased productivity and increased risk of making mistakes while assuming responsibility for the lives of others. To highlight why we need to advocate for ourselves and for our profession, I want to point out two articles—one that was published last year in the November 2011 NATA News 3 about a high school athletic trainer's timeline of work starting at 7:00 AM and fi nishing at 1:00 AM, and one published more recently in the March 2012 NATA News 4 about a professional athletic trainer's work timeline of 8:00 AM to 11:30 PM.