March is National Athletic Training Month recognizing athletic trainers across America for their commitment to helping athletics prevent injuries and stay healthy and active. Athletic trainers are health care professionals. Highly educated and dedicated to the job at hand and can be found in high schools and colleges, corporations, professional sports, the military, performing arts and clinics, hospitals and physician offices.
Marshall County is fortunate to have Athletic Trainer Jen Salmon who plays a huge role in the safety of all the athletes and treats a wide range of injuries from the football field to the baseball field and all sports in-between. The Athletic Trainer’s job doesn’t begin at the opening tip or first pitch, spending hours in preparation before and after each sporting event.
Athletic Trainers work in a wide variety of places and many of these include the following:
- Public and private secondary schools, colleges and universities, professional and Olympic sports
- Youth leagues, municipal and independently owned youth sports facilities
- Physician practice, similar to nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists and other professional clinical personnel
- Rural and urban hospitals, hospital emergency rooms, urgent and ambulatory care centers
- Clinics with specialties in sports medicine, cardiac rehab, medical fitness, wellness and physical therapy
- Occupational health departments in commercial settings, which include manufacturing, distribution and offices to assist with ergonomics
- Police and fire departments and academies, municipal departments, branches of the military
- Performing arts including professional and collegiate level dance and music
Marshall County Athletic Trainer Jen Salmon on the sidelines during a football scrimmage this past fall.