| The need for an established emergency policy and procedures plan in the college and university setting has been confirmed by various organizations such as: National Safety Council (NSC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The duty of these emergency policies and procedures is twofold. The first is to provide immediate care to student-athletes in an emergency situation. The second purpose is to avoid liability issues that may arise following an emergency situation. The premise behind the establishment and implementation is to have a well established emergency policies and procedures manual to aid in the appropriate and most immediate care to the student-athlete in an emergency or life-threatening situation. The objective of this study is to establish what Division I-A and I-AA athletic training programs are implementing or have implemented to accommodate these recommendations and whether smaller universities have difficulty upholding the guidelines set forth by the NATA due to the decreased budgets. |
