Injuries are a part of the game, but at every game, the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Sills, said there are around 30 medical staff keeping an eye on players.
“Each team will have orthopedic surgeons, internal medical doctors, athletic trainers, chiropractors, nutritionists, behavioral health,” said Sills. “A whole variety of people.”
All of whom are armed with a plan when emergencies strike.
“Plan is written, plan gets rehearsed, and then importantly the plan gets circulated among all the teams,” said Sills. “Outside of maybe a hospital emergency room, I think this is probably the safest place to be sick or injured, because we really have the ability to deal with any and all life-threatening medical and orthopedic emergencies here on site.”
Most of the evaluation starts on the field, or in the blue medical tent on the sideline.
“You wouldn’t think so, but it’s private, it’s quiet,” said Commanders Team Physician, Dr. Johnathan Bernard. “You can really assess a player well. You can do the exam well and it allows you to get a lot of information that is otherwise quite confusing without the tent.”
The tent is a big help, Sills says, when evaluating head injuries.
“In here, we can now have a conversation where we pay attention to each other, and I can make sure that I’ve got a good exam,” said Sills.
The Commanders had two players suffer concussions in last week’s game against the Cowboys, including Austin Ekeler, who was diagnosed with his second of the season.
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