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Exclusive Content Preliminary Program*

The Athletic Trainer’s Role in Cybersecurity (V), Essential 

Jeremy Howard, EdD, LAT, ATC, Army National Guard  

Athletic trainers are well-versed in topics such as injury prevention, risk mitigation, injury management,  clinical diagnosis, rehabilitation and administration. Overall, athletic trainers are well-suited to protect their patients from harm and well-educated on many aspects of organization policy to address these areas. However, cyberspace-based threats have been an emerging concern in multiple fields, and while athletic trainers aren’t cybersecurity professionals, they should know, understand and promote the protection of their patients and their patients’ information from cyberthreats. Unfortunately, this isn’t an aspect of the formal education athletic trainers receive and creates a potential threat that nefarious actors could leverage. Athletic trainers are uniquely postured to advocate for the protection of their patient’s information through process improvement via policy and practice modification. 

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to: 

  • Identify various cybersecurity threats. 
  • Describe best practices in cybersecurity that will improve patient information protection. 
  • Select appropriate organizational policies in cybersecurity to improve the protection of patient data.

NFL Health and Safety Research Update: Applying Evidence To Make the Game Safer at All Levels (I, II, IV), (BCS-O: I, II), Advanced

Allen Sills, MD, FACS, NFL 

Christina Mack, PhD, IQVIA Real World Solution 

The NFL has developed injury reduction strategies that can be broadly applied to address other levels of play. These strategies can be used to reduce some of the most common injuries, including ACL injuries and concussions. This session will describe the latest findings on protective equipment including helmets, shoulder pads and shoes. Sensor data that can be used to adjust workloads and the critical role of coaches to assist in player safety will also be discussed. 

Objectives:

  • Evaluate equipment choices to improve player safety. 
  • Describe an evidence-driven approach to reducing injuries as athletes return to sport and prepare for competition.
  • Develop of a strategy of engaging coaches to support player safety.

The BEAR in Recovery: Evaluating Use of ACL Repair in Active Populations (I, II, IV), (BCS-O: I, II)

Lindsey Dietrich, MD, Texas Health 

AdvancedBridge-Enhanced ACL repair (BEAR) is a modern procedure and viable treatment for ACL tears that is starting to be utilized more in active patient populations. However, there is a gap in knowledge surrounding this primary repair procedure, recovery and its efficacy. Despite clinical trial evidence showing BEAR is noninferior to ACL autograft reconstruction in International Knee Documentation Committee subjective scores and retear rates two years post-op, hesitation of use in adolescent athletes may be related to a 12-month minimum return-to-play guideline. Despite this consideration, younger athletes may benefit from BEAR procedure because of limitations with open physes or revision graft options. 

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:  

  • Compare BEAR procedure to various ACL reconstruction graft options for active patient populations and the differences in rehabilitation milestones. 
  • Recognize appropriate patient situation for utilization of BEAR technique/implant and prognosis for recovery with return-to-sport timeline. 
  • Assess factors of failure rates in adolescent athletes who undergo ACL surgery (including reconstruction) and review role the BEAR procedure may play in managing long-term outcomes. 

Using Artificial Intelligence for Good: Applications in Health Care Administration (V), Essential 

Chad Clements, PhD, ATC, Boston University 

Drew Duckett, MS, ATC,  Boston University 

Artificial intelligence (AI) text generators are systems that use statistical models and machine learning to generate new text in response to a prompt. This session will present various AI text generators available in the market and describe their unique features. Additionally, through specific examples and live demonstration, attendees will ;earn how AI text generators can be responsibly leveraged to improve efficiency in health care administration. This session will also highlight the importance of ethical considerations by emphasizing a balanced approach with human oversight and judgement in reviewing content for accuracy and relevance. 

 

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:  

  • Identify examples of the application of AI text generators in athletic training health care administration, including drafting policies, communicating with patients and analyzing surveys. 
  • Describe how AI can streamline administrative tasks, such as generating email drafts, identifying educational resources and enabling communication with patients for whom English is a second language. 
  • Emphasize the significance of ethical use of AI text generators by recognizing the importance of human oversight and judgment to ensure content accuracy. 

Event Emergency Preparedness for Exertional Heat Stroke: Lessons from the Olympic and Paralympic Games, (III), Advanced

Yuri Hosokawa, PhD, ATC, FACSM, WASEDA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN

Exertional heat stroke is one of the leading causes of sudden death in sports. Its treatment (i.e., whole-body cold-water immersion) is shown to be effective in saving lives of athletes when performed immediately to reduce the duration of extreme hyperthermia (internal body temperature greater than 40.5 Celsius) within 30 minutes. However, despite the strong evidence that supports the use of cold-water immersion, there remains events that don’t use it and rectal temperature assessment as part of the policy and procedures for event medical services. The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games was the first summer Olympic Games to formally create and implement policy and procedures for exertional heat stroke prehospital management. It also became one of the first even to create guidelines for Paralympians. This presentation aims to provide step-by-step description of the development and implementation of evidence-based exertional heat stroke prehospital management in sporting events using the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as an example.

Objectives:

  • Develop policy and procedures for exertional heat stroke prehospital management designed for mass participation events.
  • Design heat deck at mass participation events.
  • Understand special considerations required to set up heat deck in Paralympic sports with high risk of exertional heat stroke.
  • Design and lead pre-event training sessions on exertional heat stroke prehospital management for medical volunteers.

*Subject to change.