:: SportsSafety.org/Press Corner/
The National Center for Sports Safety Updates the PREPARE Course
Author: NCSS Information Team
Birmingham, AL (June 5, 2008)…The National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS) announces the recent updated content for the PREPARE Sports Safety course.
The National Center for Sports Safety in conjunction with the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) and a host of other delegates developed the PREPARE course, which consists of seven modules providing information on preventing sports injuries and response to emergency situations. The course also teaches how to prevent heat and cold illnesses, recognition of inclement weather, and how to manage exercise induced asthma, among other important topics. PREPARE is relevant to all coaches on all levels of youth sports and will help coaches be better prepared on and off the field.
Sports safety content and regulations are constantly changing; the NCSS began working on a mass update to the PREPARE course content in the Fall of 2007 to provide coaches, volunteers and parents with the most current sports safety information. The NCSS worked on these updates for several months, consisting of about 4 different revisions which now reflect the most current standard of care.
The PREPARE course was revised by 19 delegates who had previously attended the "Setting the Standard" Summit in 2001, all of which are professionals in various medical fields and professions across the U.S. The delegates provided their professional opinions, facts, and insight on sports safety education. One of the key course delegates for the updates was Dr. Jeff Konin, Associate Professor, and Executive Director, SMART Institute, University of South Florida. "For years now PREPARE has successfully taught coaches and parents about the essentials of sports safety. In this updated version, the experts have come together one more time to provide the most current knowledge in sports safety sharing timely information about potentially dangerous injuries like concussions and spinal cord injuries. The knowledge of how to prevent unnecessary injuries should never be underestimated - be prepared in 2008!"
Lawrence J. Lemak, M.D., founder of the NCSS and Chairman of Lemak Sports Medicine (www.lemaksports.com), "there is not one parent that would drop their child off at a community pool that did not have a certified lifeguard on duty, and that same standard of care should apply to every sports facility in this country."
The National Center for Sports Safety (NCSS) was founded to promote the importance of injury prevention and safety on all levels of youth sports through education and research. The NCSS focuses on decreasing the number and/or severity of injuries through developing and teaching sports safety courses and collecting, analyzing and researching injury data.
Contact: Kathryn Gwaltney, NCSS 205-329-7535
