Athletic trainers step up: App aids overworked hospitals

Athletic trainers across the country are changing their routines and joining the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The National Athletic Trainers Association has partnered with the Go4Ellis platform on an app aimed at helping trainers assist understaffed hospitals.

The app was intended to give health care providers a database to look for help nationwide. More than 950 athletic trainers have signed up over the last week.

Christina Eyers generally oversees about 40 trainers in her role as a director of athletic training in Detroit's Henry Ford Health System. Most of them are assisting medical staffs in and around Detroit, recently cited as a potential trouble spot in the pandemic.

My staff has been very eager, Eyers said.

They do not provide critical medical care. Instead, Eyers said her organization's trainers have been screening patients, which typically means checking for symptoms and taking their temperatures. Some have helped in shipping prescriptions.

The assistance has come in handy.

With the surge of patients we're seeing, we're taking an all-hands-on-deck approach, said Robert Albers, a senior sports medicine physician at Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital who often works with trainers.

I don't think it matters what avenue you're normally in. You have to be ready to help out and step up. I really admire everything our athletic trainers have done.''
That's also the portion of our membership which find themselves separated from their patient population right now, Lindley said, so some are looking for things and opportunities like this, where the skill sets match up."