Student Athletic Trainers Provide Care to Peers on Sidelines

There's a new way for New Trier students to get down on the sidelines of Trevian sports and it doesn't involve suiting up to face a rival school.

Annika Safstrom, head athletic trainer at New Trier Township High School, has developed an after-school program that teaches students basic skills in sports medicine. With some training, students are joining New Trier's sports medicine staff on the field as student trainers, assisting them in basic care for student athletes.

The program, endorsed by Athletic Director Randy Oberembt and the school science department, was initiated this fall.

"It is an opportunity for [students] to get experience with hands-on practice of basic skills,'' Safstrom said. "They can become more aware of what goes into athletic training behind the scenes and how the athletic trainer works with the athletes, parents and coaches, and has their own place in the sports medicine team."

Safstrom, who is in her fourth year at New Trier, said the program is a way to officially teach athletic training to students, some of whom have worked informally with Safstrom in the past.

Lindsey McClure, a New Trier junior, began working with Safstrom last year, but said it is beneficial to have the program proclaimed official.

"It is not so nonchalant,'' McClure said. "There is more time for learning and being with the athletes. More people are involved, and that makes it more fun."  

There are no class requirements to participate, although Safstrom has connected with Mike Lee, who teaches a sports medicine class, to attract potential recruits. Safstrom said most of her current group of 10 students are seniors, and she hopes to attract younger students to help sustain the program.

"We really try to promote it, especially among kids that are not necessary going to be on varsity teams, but they want to be involved in sports,'' she said. "This is a great way for them to do that. And other students will see these students on the sideline and think about doing it themselves."

On Sept. 13, Safstrom was working with three students--Jessie Santos, Philip Ross and Laura Van Horne--showing them how to treat cuts and apply ice packs, then walking them through the process of preparing treatment solutions.

After a quick lesson in Safstrom's office, the students were taken on their first field trip to work a field hockey game, where Safstrom immediately demonstrated how to wrap a wrist for one of the athletes.

"We want them to be able to practice their skills in a live atmosphere,'' she said.

McClure said the best lesson she has learned was how to use electronic stimulus machinery.

"We learned how to be precise with it,'' McClure said. "An athlete can get hurt if you don't use it the right way, but when you do, you see just how beneficial it is."

This fall, more than 1,300 New Trier students will participate in school sports and the school has a four-person athletic training staff, Oberembt said.

"It is a challenge to meet the needs of all the participants," Oberembt said.

However, the athletes' safety will not be compromised with this new program, Safstrom said.

"We have a book of proficiencies, and once they are checked off, they [participants] can practice on one of their fellow students, but I have to be there watching,'' she said.

For Safstrom, the program is an opportunity for her to expose students to the high points of her profession.

"I do recognize I am not a teacher, but this is definitely something I enjoy, and this is a way for me to share the joy of what I love about this job, and to demonstrate that to students who think they might want to be athletic trainers but are not sure."