Emergency responders conduct sports injury training at Fort Riley, Kansas

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Emergency Medical Services personnel from Kansas, including Fort Riley firefighters and Irwin Army Community Hospital emergency medical technicians, participated in sports injury training March 2 at the Fort Riley Fire Department headquarters, 1020 Huebner Road.

The daylong course focused on the initial treatment of sports related injuries, specifically spinal injuries suffered by football players. Trainers from the Kansas Athletic Trainers Society provided classroom instruction in the morning and hands-on training in the afternoon.

The trainers practice professionally at collegiate and high school sports programs as well as health and rehabilitation facilities from around the state of Kansas. The group included Phillip Vardiman, Kansas State University; David Fitzhugh, Fort Hays State University; Mark Padfield, Tonganoxie High School and Lawrence Memorial Hospital; and Chris Fleming, Wichita Fire Department and Inspire Health and Performance.

Richard Watson, assistant chief of health and safety at the FRFD, said the training was split into two sessions. The morning session was more about learning the basics of sports injuries, including concussions and traumatic brain injuries. The afternoon session included hands-on training that taught the emergency responders how to remove football equipment from a patient.

"The academic things can be applied across the board whether it's a vehicle accident or a fall," he said. "The hands-on portion we're doing is more in-depth, like at the middle school when there is a football injury. Our folks have the potential to respond to those injuries and we want to be equipped to handle that."

To be a firefighter with the FRFD, being an EMT is a requirement. To keep the EMT status, continuing education hours are required, which this training met the objective for everyone in attendance. As a nationally registered EMT, 72 hours of continuing education hours are required within a two year period. As a state registered EMT, a minimum of 28 hours of continuing education are required within a two year period.

Watson said another unique aspect of this training was being able to network with both on- and off-post partners including staff from IACH and Junction City Fire Department.

"We work together every day but we don't get the chance to train together every day," he said. "It's all about networking … the more you work together, the more we'll recognize faces when we meet in an emergency."

Jeremy McCallum, from the Junction City Fire Department, has a unique connection to the FRFD. His brother works as part of the firefighter staff on the installation so he knows most of the team. He said it is important firefighters in the area network because they usually meet under stressful circumstances.

"Any time we can build relationships it's going to be positive because we sometimes run into each other on emergency scenes," he said.

Although JCFD staff will occasionally treat sports injuries, McCallum said it is imperative to keep learning about new technology and studies that give more up-to-date information about how to treat a patient. Training opportunities like this give them the ability to stay knowledgeable despite the ever-changing technology.

"Any training we can get is going to help us because of the new technology and new studies that come out," he said. "They are always doing new studies and coming up with new ways for us to approach situations."