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ABSTRACT PRESENTATION 

 

61 
Copyright © by Indiana State University                                                                                Clinical Practice in Athletic Training  
All rights reserved. ISSN Online 2577-8188                                                                        Volume 4 – Issue 1 – February 2021 
 

Redeployment of Athletic Trainers During a Pandemic 
James Caiola, MS, LAT, ATC* 
*MedStar Health, Washington, DC 
 

 
 
Full Citation 
Caiola J. Redeployment of Athletic Trainers During a 
Pandemic. Clin Pract Athl Train. 2021;4(1):61. 
https://doi.org/10.31622/2021/0004.1.8.  
 
Presented at the 4rd Annual Athletic Trainers in the 
Physician Practice Society Meeting and Conference, 
February 26-27, 2021.  

 

ABSTRACT 

Before COVID-19 was recognized as a global 
pandemic involving the United States of America 
in March of 2020, MedStar Health employed 40 
Athletic Trainers (ATs) in multiple settings. While 
ATs worked in the traditional setting at 17 high 
schools, 2 universities, and with 2 professional 
teams in the Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC 
area, they also have been used in nontraditional 
ways. They are used in the physician practice 
setting to manage clinic flow, evaluate patients 
and present to the physician, provide pre- and 
post-surgical patient education, and being an 
overall patient point of contact in a busy clinic. 
They have also been used in nontraditional ways 
with work as coordinators for research projects, 
helping to organize information and write grant 
proposals. Community Liaisons (CL), an additional 
AT function in our system, are also a crucial and 
beneficial member of the MedStar Health Sports 
Medicine Staff. There are 5 CL’s in the system 
ranging from working in locations such as the 
national headquarters of US Lacrosse and the 
Saint James Sports Complex, a commercial 
multipurpose sports training site, and on the front-
line overseeing partnerships such as the Maryland 
Black Bears and Area Boys and Girls Clubs. 
 
It has not been uncommon for employees within 
medical systems to be furloughed due to shifting 
clinic needs. No employees of MedStar Sports 
Medicine have been laid off as a result of 
redeployment, they have been utilized in different 
areas. In these times, system ATs have exemplified 
their versatility by being redeployed to call 

centers, facilitating patient contact with COVID 
test results, working Urgent Cares shifts to do 
Preop testing and help with patient flow in busy 
centers, and becoming contact tracers. This 
presentation will explore how MedStar Health 
Sports Medicine responded to COVID-19. 
 
 
Correspondence 
James Caiola, 1120 20th St NW Suite 115, Washington, DC 
20036 
Email: James.m.caiola@medstar.net  
 

 
 

https://doi.org/10.31622/2021/0004.1.8
mailto:James.m.caiola@medstar.net

