Emergency Action Plan Adoption Across Athletic Training Practice Settings

ABSTRACT Context: The 2024 NATA Position Statement provides updated recommendations for EAP adoption. Past research on the 2002 statement showed limited adoption by ATs. Assessing current adoption across practice settings offers a clearer picture of the EAP implementation landscape. Objectives: To examine ATs' adoption of new EAP best-practice recommendations across practice settings. Design: Cross-Sectional study. Setting: Online questionnaire. Patients or Other Participants: Clinically active ATs (n=614) working in any practice setting (Youth, Secondary School, Division 1 Power 4, Collegiate athletics – Not Power 4, Non-Major Professional Sports, Professional Sports, Non-Sideline). Main Outcome Measures: Prevalence of an EAP, adoption of recommendations, and emergency equipment across practice settings. Median values are reported for aggregate data. Results: Most ATs (n=582, 94.8%) reported having an EAP, with the highest adoption among ATs practicing in the secondary school setting (n=369, 97.6%) and the lowest adoption among those working in non-sideline settings (n=27, 84.4%). On average, ATs adopted 16±7.5 (median: 18) out of 26 recommendations, with the lowest level of adoption among ATs working in the youth sports (9.5±7.9; median: 7) and the highest level of adoption among those working in the professional sports (18±9; median: 22). Bleeding control materials (n=483, 78.7%; range: 73.6%-94.7%) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation masks (n=476, 77.5%; range: 67.8%-94.7%) were the most prevalent emergency equipment available. Bronchodilators (n=108, 17.6%; range: 3.8%-47.4%) and supplemental oxygen (n=124, 20.2%; range: 3.8%-73.7%) were the least prevalent available equipment. Conclusions: Most ATs reported having an EAP, but fewer than 15% adopted all 2024 recommendations. These findings provide a baseline to assess setting-specific adoption and guide resource development. Emergency equipment availability varied, highlighting the need for ATs to ensure access to setting-specific emergency tools.