Ensure your emergency response plans comply with NATA's updated EAP position statement

Abstract

Having the right plans in place can help your athletics department respond promptly and effectively to emergencies while limiting liability and preventing those emergencies from turning into out-of-control crises. To help college athletics departments prepare for any emergency, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association released new guidance earlier this year, the 2024 “National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Emergency Action Plan Development and Implementation in Sport.” This updated plan outlines substantial advancements from the 2002 “National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Emergency Planning in Athletics.” The emergency action plan is a written document that details the steps for athletic trainers, team physicians, and other health care professionals and stakeholders to take in order to ensure they’re prepared for on-site emergency response to catastrophic or potentially catastrophic injuries in athletics-related settings. The EAP is designed to facilitate emergency preparedness via an efficient and coordinated emergency response, and shouldn’t be mistaken for being the same as policies and procedures. Instead, an outgrowth of the EAP is a protocol in the form of a document that provides guidance for steps, decisions, and actions in sports medicine.