When hearing the term Professional athlete, thoughts first go towards million-dollar athletes and organizations such as the NFL, MLB, OR NBA, to name a few leagues. When we look at these athletes, we first marvel at their abilities to play specific sports. Each athlete relies specifically on how well their body can react to different situations. I think we take the word professional athlete and take the word for granted.

I want to break down the word professional first, and by Merriam webster dictionary states that a professional is engaged in by persons receiving a financial return. So if you are receiving money for an activity, you are literally a professional in that activity. Simple right? By going over the term athlete by Merriam-webster dictionary, we see an athlete as a trained or skilled athlete in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina. An athlete needs to be trained first to rely on their physical strength, agility, or stamina. Breaking down these two terms, we see a professional athlete needs to be paid and trained in something that requires them to use their physical strength, agility, or stamina for the activity.

When brought into context, we can see many professions really can fall into the words of a professional athlete. There is one group of jobs I tip my hat off to and say thanks to. This group of occupations is typically called or known as first responders. We can also bring in the term tactical athlete for these professions as well. We can group them into saying as a professional athlete is really on the description and job requirements to perform the job and perform it well.

Each of these 3 Jobs, Police Officers, Firefighters, and EMT, falls into first responders, which means when an emergency is happening in the community, who gets called? They do! When seeing the demands placed on each person within these professions. And the number of injuries they receive from overexertion to their bodies, A previous article I wrote (statistics of injuries for tactical Athletes). On average injuries between all three jobs, 46,963 injuries occur to these brave people (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021) (National Fire Protection Association, 2021) (National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 2021).

My question, first of all, is, are these injuries preventable? The answer is no. There is no way to limit all injuries, but there are ways to limit the amount that does happen each year, and this comes to where my title is Linking professional athletes and tactical athletes in the same boat. Yes, each person who puts on a uniform and uses their bodies is the same as the millionaire athletes. They need to ensure they keep their strength, increase their agility and improve their stamina.

It is up to each of these professions to place strength and conditioning programs that address each athlete's needs.  The programs should be able to strengthen the soft tissue of the athlete (ligaments and tendons). Increase the range of motion and increase the overall strength of these athletes. When a program is in place that addresses each of these areas, the injuries caused by overexertion and sprains will decrease. A decrease in these numbers does a few things for the community and each athlete. It keeps more of our first responders active to respond to emergencies; It keeps families safe, and it keeps each tactical athlete safe and able to return to their families.

I believe it is vital for everyone who uses their body to keep it as healthy as possible. Having a strength and conditioning program in place is essential in performing at the job's highest levels. An athlete's performance places a program that is specific to each athlete's needs. You can contact us @ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call  385.225.9160 or fill out a form, and we can see what is needed.

Citations

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES WORKERS. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ems/data.html

National Fire Protection Association. (2021). Firefighter injuries in the United States. Retrieved from National Fire Protection Association: https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Data-research-and-tools/Emergency-Responders/Firefighter-injuries-in-the-United-States#:~:text=An%20estimated%2060%2C825%20firefighter%20injuries,24%2C525%20exposures%20to%20hazardous%20conditions.

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. (2021). LAW ENFORCEMENT FACTS. Retrieved from National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund: https://nleomf.org/facts-figures/law-enforcement-facts