Access to Athletic Trainers and Emergency Medical Services Activations for Sport-Related Injuries.

CONTEXT: Having athletic trainers (ATs) employed at secondary schools is associated with improved preparedness for sport-related emergencies. The use of emergency medical services (EMS) in settings with different access to athletic training services remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence of EMS activations for patients with sport-related injuries among zip codes with various levels of access to athletic training services. DESIGN: Descriptive epidemiology study. SETTING: Data were obtained from the National EMS Information System and the Athletic Training Location and Services Project. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Zip codes where 911 EMS activations for sport-related injuries among individuals 13 to 18 years old occurred. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Incidence of EMS activations, athletic training service level (no ATs employed [NONE], less than full-time employment [PARTIAL], all ATs employed full time [FULL]), and athletic training employment model (independent contractor [IC], medical or university facility [MUF], school district [SD], mixed employment models [MIX]) for each zip code. RESULTS: The EMS activations were 2.8 ± 3.6 per zip code (range = 1-81, N = 4923). Among zip codes in which at least 1 AT was employed (n = 2228), 3.73% (n = 83) were IC, 38.20% (n = 851) were MUF, 27.24% (n = 607) were SD, and 30.83% (n = 687) were MIX. Compared with SD, MUF had a 10.8% lower incidence of EMS activations (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.892; 95% CI = 0.817, 0.974; P = .010). The IC (IRR = 0.920; 95% CI = 0.758, 1.118; P = .403) and MIX (IRR = 0.996; 95% CI = 0.909, 1.091; P = .932) employment models were not different from the SD model. Service level was calculated for 3834 zip codes, with 19.5% (n = 746) NONE, 46.2% (n = 1771) PARTIAL, and 34.4% (n = 1317) FULL. Compared with NONE, FULL (IRR = 1.416; 95% CI = 1.308, 1.532; P < .001) and PARTIAL (IRR = 1.368; 95% CI = 1.268, 1.476; P < .001) had higher incidences of EMS activations. CONCLUSIONS: Local access to athletic training services was associated with an increased use of EMS for sport-related injuries among secondary school-aged individuals, possibly indicating improved identification and triage of sport-related emergencies in the area. The difference in EMS use among employment models may reflect different policies and procedures for sport-related emergencies.