Wood County Career and Technical Ed tees up new sports medicine program
Cayden Blankenship demonstrates how to use a Therm-X machine on fellow sports medicine student Jackson Smith. Therm-X is a machine that uses water to combine cold, heat, contrast, and compression therapy to treat post-surgical and acute injuries to reduce edema, swelling, and pain. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Jackson Smith demonstrates the proper way to wrap an injured ankle on fellow sports medicine student Cayden Blankenship. The new sports medicine program located on the Wood County Career and Technical Education’s Caperton Campus is a two-year program that will teach students about the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries, but will also introduce them to the world of healthcare that could lead into other fields. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
The Wood County Career and Technical Education’s sports medicine program, located on the Caperton Campus, held a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday night. The new two-year program will teach students about the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries, but will also introduce them to the world of healthcare that could lead into other fields. Pictured are Jaclyn Tate, Advisory Committee, Joe Leahman, instructor, and Seth O’Neal, Advisory Committee. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Cayden Blankenship demonstrates how to use a Therm-X machine on fellow sports medicine student Jackson Smith. Therm-X is a machine that uses water to combine cold, heat, contrast, and compression therapy to treat post-surgical and acute injuries to reduce edema, swelling, and pain. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Jackson Smith demonstrates the proper way to wrap an injured ankle on fellow sports medicine student Cayden Blankenship. The new sports medicine program located on the Wood County Career and Technical Education’s Caperton Campus is a two-year program that will teach students about the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries, but will also introduce them to the world of healthcare that could lead into other fields. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
The Wood County Career and Technical Education’s sports medicine program, located on the Caperton Campus, held a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday night. The new two-year program will teach students about the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of sports injuries, but will also introduce them to the world of healthcare that could lead into other fields. Pictured are Jaclyn Tate, Advisory Committee, Joe Leahman, instructor, and Seth O’Neal, Advisory Committee. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Trending
PARKERSBURG -- The Wood County Career and Technical Education's Caperton Campus recently launched an innovative new two-year sports medicine program that aims to explore healthcare careers through a hands-on, practical approach centered around sports medicine.
"We're using the sports medicine program as an opportunity for kids to come in and explore different areas of healthcare that they might be interested in," Instructor Joe Leahman said. "And it's very hands-on, it's very practical, therefore, it makes it a lot more interesting. And they leave with practical skills that they can take with them, even if they don't become a healthcare provider."
Leahman said students will learn to perform tasks like wrapping ankles, stabilizing spines in emergencies, and using equipment like otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes to examine injuries.
Sports medicine student Cayden Blankenship said one of his favorite machines is the Therm-X, which uses water to combine cold, heat, contrast, and compression therapy to treat post-surgical and acute injuries.
'It's mostly used to decrease swelling," Blankenship said. "You can do all kinds of different stuff with it. You can set whatever time you want, how cold or hot it is."
Blankenship said the patient will use this treatment for 15 minutes at a time depending on the severity of the injury.
Leahman said the program exposes students to the different stages of injury recovery and helps them decide appropriate treatment plans. He said students should be able to identify the stage an injury is in, whether its acute stage, subacute, post-acute or a chronic condition, and make a diagnosis.
He said students study modalities like electrical stimulation, hydrotherapy, and hot/cold therapies to aid the healing process.
"They can say, 'OK, I can manipulate this electrical current to have the effect that I want,' using that as a therapeutic modality," Leahman said. "Same thing with hot or cold. They could decide, 'You know what, I think the best application for this ankle tendinitis is to put you in a whirlpool,' and they're gonna be able to decide if they're going to do cold water or hot water."
Students will also earn certificates through hands-on experience in the classroom that they can then take with them out into the real world.
"I enjoy the hands-on part of the class, because I feel like I learn more that way," Jackson Smith said. "The CPR, it can apply more to real world scenarios and, say if my grandma or someone went down, I would have the ability to save her."
Lehman emphasizes the long-term goals of promoting healthcare careers and giving back to the community and said students are already gaining experience assisting at local high school sporting events and have plans to visit other healthcare programs.
"We have a handful of students working the regional wrestling tournament with the athletic trainers at (Parkersburg) South this weekend,' Leahman said. "They'll be able to help with something that needs stabilized, or something that needs a compression wrap, or something that needs taped, or something that needs an ice pack, they'll be able to jump in and help with all that stuff hands-on instead of just watching the professional athletic trainer do it."
The program has already seen high interest from students, with many recruiting others and a current waiting list to get in.
"We recruited a lot of people when they came here on tours," Smith said.
For more information about the sports medicine program, or any other programs offered by the Wood County Career and Technical Education's Caperton and Blizzard Drive Campus', visit their website at www.woodcountyschoolswv.com/o/wctc.
Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com
***
Certificates students can earn in the sports medicine program:
* First Aid
* CPR
* OSHA 10
* Stop the bleed
* Physical Therapy Tech