George Mason University (GMU) students are helping Prince William first responders.
According to a release, the GMU students are certified athletic trainers that are working with the Prince William County Department of Fire & Rescue and the Prince William County Police Department to help the first responders to prevent on-the-job injuries.
“People who engage in public safety are really tactical athletes. The physical demands of their jobs often put them into positions that are not too dissimilar from injuries that you would see in an athletic environment. Rehabilitating them and helping to prevent the injuries these tactical athletes suffer is quite similar to working with sports athletes,” stated GMU Professor Shane Caswell in a release.
Caswell works as the co-director of GMU’s Sports Medicine and Research Training Laboratory, and began his work with Prince William first responders during several Kyle Wilson ‘Walk for Fitness’ events, according to a release.
Wilson was a Prince William firefighter that was killed in the line of duty in 2007.
In fact, Wilson was one of Caswell’s former students.
“It just seemed like a no brainer to reach out to the county,” stated Caswell in a release.
More on the program, from a release:
Prince William County Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Frank Orefice said the program, which has been running for about a year, helps keep people on the job by preventing injury in the first place through exercise and training and returning them to work as soon as possible after an injury. “The goal is to reduce time off from work and make sure people are getting back on the fire apparatus without getting reinjured.”
Orefice said the program, which costs the county $45,000 a year, benefits the county by keeping people on the job and keeping the training and rehabilitation in house. It saves in doctor and rehabilitation visits since the trainers, all nationally certified and state licensed, work out of the Prince William County Public Safety Academy.
“Losing someone for months and having to backfill that position, with overtime, plus all of the medical bills – it adds up,” Orefice said. “I’d say for every dollar we’re spending, we’re getting seven dollars back on our investment.”
Jodi McConnell, certified athletic trainer with George Mason University, is assigned to the program and spent the majority of her career as trainer working with college athletes. McConnell said she sees injuries in the fire department she used to see in the athletes she once trained and rehabilitated. She said she likes keeping firefighters and police healthy.
“I’m able to use a lot of my skills, and I’m able to return people to the jobs they want to do. That’s satisfying. They’re a great group of people. They’re very motivated, and they’re obviously doing a tremendous job. Being able to get them back to something they love to do, and do well, is very satisfying.”
