This intersection poses a dilemma for athletic trainers who have a duty to protect the health of young athletes. How do you decide when to cancel, relocate or reschedule outdoor practices or games on account of poor air quality? Uniform policies are in place for heat and lightning, but that is not the case for particulate matter, ozone, wildfire smoke and other kinds of air pollution common in Utah.
New interdisciplinary research from the University of Utah, based on in-depth interviews with high school athletic trainers, highlights the need for more uniform air quality policies and for equipping trainers with the resources needed to ensure the health and safety of student athletes.
The researchers, who are based in the U’s colleges of Humanities, Engineering and Social & Behavioral Science, interviewed via Zoom 16 athletic trainers from across Utah, exploring how they engage with and respond to air quality concerns in relation to their professional roles and interactions with administrators.
“It is a small sample, but the goal was to understand some of the dynamics that athletic trainers face when making decisions around air quality for the wellbeing of their students,” said co-author Sara Yeo, a professor of communication. “We found that some of them are able to and some of them are not necessarily able to, depending on where the decision-making power tends to lie.”