Making (a) room for the trainer: A primer for building a certified athletic trainer's room. (Facility Focus).

When Phil Hossler arrived at East Brunswick (NJ) High School 19 years ago, the school was still utilizing an antiquated 12 x 15 foot training room that had been built in 1960 and was struggling to accommodate the ever-mounting volume of sports and athletes created by Title IX.

Hossler, a certified trainer (who is currently president-elect of the 6,000-member Eastern Athletic Trainers Association) kept his peace, but continued to patiently and persistingly lobby for a new training room.

His dream came true a year and a half ago in the shape of brand new 1,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art training facility located to the right of the new entrance to the gym. The old training room, which is inside the main gym, is now used as a coaches room. (East Brunswick HS is a one-floor structure with a small wing consisting of additional classrooms above the main floor.)

"The bottom line was that everyone recognized the need, but until the new wing was added to the front of the high school, I wasn't going to get a new room," says Hossler, a Hall of Fame member of both the Athletic Trainers' Society of New Jersey and the National Athletic Trainers' Association. "They put a second gym in, they put classrooms in, and then discovered our needs on the same plate. That's when our lobbying efforts paid off."

East Brunswick is one of the six high schools in the Piscataway, NJ area that have either built a new training room or expanded an existing facility in the past 12 years. As Hossler points out, the first order of business in creating a top-line training facility is the hiring of a qualified person to run it-a certified athletic trainer who is an expert in first-aid and the evaluation of injuries, and someone who can also do on-site rehab.

"The days of a guy in shorts carrying a bucket onto the field are ancient history," says Hossler.

According to Hossler, New Jersey is one of the country's leaders in high school athletic trainers. Seventy-five percent of its schools have an athletic trainer on the staff. (The national average is only about 40%.)

Of that 75%, 50% of the ATCs are full-time employees with state department certification as educators. This is a remarkable figure. Four or five decades ago, Texas might have been the only state in the U.S. to have made a practice of hiring full-time athletic trainers.

With female athletics and youth programs putting more and more kids into the athletic arena, the need for full-time trainers has sharply risen.

When initiating a drive for a training room and a program, the ATC has several essential keys to consider and implement:

Getting started:

First is the need to develop a background. Like it or not, the ATC must expect a few setbacks. He has to learn to understand that "when something isn't broken, don't fix it." But first he has to learn when something is broken and what part of the wheel needs to be oiled.

"You have to show that the number of sports has increased or your skills have increased and you'd like to do rehab but your existing room is too small," Hossler says. "It may take you one year or six years to document deficiencies. But you have to document them before they will be corrected."

A strong rapport with the athletic director and coaches is not really imperative for the ATC in order to facilitate the construction of the training room. After all, who knows more about the room and its needs than the person who is going to spend all those hours in the room?

When Phil Hossler confers with ATCs who are seeking advice in the planning of a new facility, he recommends a 1,000 square-foot room and the necessity for the trainer to have input in the construction.

This is not always easy to accomplish. All of the plotting and planning is usually left to the architects and Board of Education administrators. ATCs are often left out of the loop.

"They don't come down and ask, for example, what teachers would like in their classrooms," says Hossler. "It's sort of an overall viewpoint and I understand that. But the thing is, that in most districts there is only one athletic trainer. I was fortunate to have input in the room design and monitoring its construction throughout."

Cost:

Usually out of the ATCs control. It all comes clown to the Board of Ed, the state funding, and the taxpayer dollars. Depending on location, construction estimates may total $300 per square foot.

The cost of supplying the room can be offset by fundraising or booster club donations.

Shape and Layout:

The East Brunswick High training room (see diagram) is shaped like a giant L. A treatment area with three tables is located at the upper part of the L. Four taping tables are located in the middle of the room and the rehab area is at the bottom.

Farther down the L is the main door. When you walk into the room, a 350-pound capacity ice machine becomes easily accessible within eight feet.

The worst scenario would he to have the ice machine at the end of the room. In some instances, ATCs will have additional access to ice machines that are typically located in near by bays and girls locker rooms.

The East Brunswick facility allows Hossler to treat four people while four other people are getting taped and four more are doing rehab--without any of them bumping into each other.

Hossler also has a separate office within the training room, replete with glass walls and a door. The privacy allows him to talk to kids, parents, and coaches while still supervising the entire room.

Says Hossler: "The traffic pattern is absolutely critical. It determines your modality choices, your taping tables, and selection numbers."

It is also essential for the training room to have an outside door, or be close to an outside door, in order to, first, get out, and second, get injured people in.

Traffic patterns:

The design of a new training room must be based around an acceptable traffic pattern. The ideal location for a training room is close to the gym and locker rooms, thus providing easy access for the athletes. You don't want to get pushed out to the edges.

Hossler: "My room is a little bit on the edges and the reason is simple, because when you renovate, any building that is 20 or 30 years old has to meet today's building codes.

"Renovation can often open a bigger can of worms than a new structure. It may force you to give up proximity because of such simple logistics as building codes."

Disposable Supplies

These consist of tape, gauze, pads, cotton balls, and the like. The nuts and bolts of a training room, if you will. Johnson & Johnson offers perhaps the largest supply of disposable supplies in the world.

With school budgets continually shrinking, certain companies, such as Mueller Sports Medicine, Cho-Pat, McDavid Sports/Medical, Medco Sports Medicine, and Sports Medicine Technologies are developing and introducing products that not only perform but also offer a greater value, at all levels.

Mueller recently introduced its Perform high-performance porous athletic trainers tape available in the company's TeamPak's. "It's a heavier tape and has a higher tensile strength than our M-Tape," says CEO Curt Mueller. "The Perform tape is geared toward the college and professional level. High schools should continue to use the M-Tape."

Mueller has also released a new ankle brace, the Soft Ankle Brace, which is lightweight and easier to put on and take off. ATCs can visit Mueller's on-line Training Room at www.mueller-sportsmed.com/trainingroom.htm.

Other companies that offer a complete line of braces include Brace International, Cropper Medical, dj Orthopedics, and Swedo-O, which sells both braces and compression sleeves. Stromgren Supports sells compression wear as well as ankle and knee supports in its online store (www.stromgren.com). McDavid not only manufactures braces and supports, it runs the gamut of athletic tape, thermal wraps, trainer's bags, and more.

Cho-Pat has taken the lead in developing pain-reducing sports medicine devices. The company has an assortment of straps to prevent and alleviate injury such as its new I.T.B. Strap, designed to prevent the snapping or friction of the iliotibial band. In addition, Cho-Pat offers its original knee strap as well as a Dual-Action model, and its Achilles Tendon Strap.

Sports Medicine Technologies provides ATCs with one-stop shopping on its Web site (www.sportsrmedtechnologies.com), where you will find items like 3D Anatomy Software, Infrared Therapy, and an array of Sports Medicine books.

Dura-Kold manufactures all-important cold and hot packs. Stripe Sports Roll-On and Jogmate produce exceptional muscle recovery products. Orthopedic Physical Therapy Products (OPTP) has a wealth of viable products, from manual therapy to ball therapy and everything in between.

When it comes to stocking a training room, Sandy Miller, NATA Director for District 6 and ATC at Stephen F. Austin U. in Nacogdoches, TX, offers the following advice.

"I would stick with sound and creditable vendors," says Miller. "Stay away from fly by night companies and Super Sales. As for the room itself, I would be very basic. In this clay and age you don't need a lot of fancy rehab equipment. You can make a lot of that stuff on your own."

Electrical modalities:

Electrical modalities run the gamut from a whirlpool to an ultra sound machine to muscle stimulation machines. Some ATCs think highly of them, others can do without them.

Flooring and lighting:

Most ATCs may not have any choice in the matter. Training rooms with a designated wet area--whirlpools, floor drains, etc.--have an obvious need for a non-slip floor.

Telephones:

These communication tools are critical. The East Brunswick room has one telephone in it, which is restricted to the school area. It has an additional phone in Hossler's office that is not geographically restricted nor controlled by the switchboard, allowing the ATC to make calls after school hours.

"Two phones are a luxury but not in cases such as this--especially since the ATCs hours do not coincide with school hours," Hossler says.

Amenities:

Simple things like computer access, Internet access, and computer record-keeping capability have become staples for ATCs.

Depending on space availability, rehab equipment is also a good idea. The East Brunswick room includes a bicycle, treadmill, physio balls, and a slide Reebok. Central air conditioning makes a nice addition.