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2006 Spring Edition
CATA Newsletter
In this edition...
President's Letter
2006 CATA Symposium and
Business Meeting
Legislative Update
VOTE online - 2006 elections
2006
Excellence in High School Athletic Training Award Winners
COMMITTEE Updates..
Student Athletic Trainer
Scholarships
Public Relations
Finance
Secondary Schools
Corporate Sponsors
ASTHMA
PRESIDENT'S LETTER
Dear CATA Members:
As this spring sports season winds down, I hope this newsletter finds you and
yours well. While there has not been a ton to report on the legislative front in
the past few weeks there is still quite a lot of work being done on behalf of
the CATA.
House Bill 1127 has finally been assigned a date in the senate appropriations
committee, that hearing will be Wednesday, April 19, 2006. Our bill had been
moving right along at break neck speed through this committee, then that
committee, going, going and going. While it appeared that our bill has stalled
as it has been sitting behind all the bills that carry an impact on the budget,
it has not necessarily been a bad thing. Since we came to an agreement with the
two main groups that had originally opposed our bill (physical therapy and
chiropractor group) there has been nobody lobbying against HB 1127 in these five
weeks that it has set immobile.
We are optimistic about moving out of the senate appropriations committee, and
we will then be moved to the senate floor. We will need ALL of our members
to contact their senator and ask for support of HB 1127, those senators
need to hear that the Colorado public NEEDS this legislation. Please
watch your e-mails for information and instructions on when to “jump”.
Very shortly after the announcement of our success in the Senate, Business,
Labor and Technology committee, the BOD was swamped with calls and e-mails
asking how the compromises that we reached with the opposing groups will affect
them in their current situation. Most of us felt as if we had an adequate
understanding of the bill as it stood, and we were confident we could answer the
questions we wanted to make sure we were providing the MOST accurate information
possible. As a result, the CATA BOD voted to hire Rick Ball to provide a
legislative analysis of our bill, IF and WHEN it is passed into law. Rick is
extremely gifted in reading laws and putting it into “athletic trainer
language”. We should have this available at our state meeting.
IF our bill passes into law, we plan to host a one hour presentation AFTER the
annual meeting presenting what the bill means and what implications it will have
on our profession. This will NOT be part of the educational program and NOT
required to claim the 8 CEU’s.
While we have not necessarily been busy with the legislative stuff, the BOD has
been working hard, especially Carrie McKloskey, on our annual meeting. The date
and location are set for Sunday, May 21st at Metro State College. We are very
happy with the panel we have developed to present to our group. Please make
arrangements to attend this event.
One final notice that I have to announce, Carrie McKloskey will be moving to
Kentucky this June as her husband has been transferred there for his job. While
we are very sad to “lose” Carrie, it is the best for her and her family. We
thank her for her years of dedicated service to OUR association. As a result of
Carrie’s leaving the BOD has to fill the Vice President position on the Board of
Directors. I have spoken to a few members regarding an appointment to the BOD,
as has the other members of the BOD, we are currently developing a “short list”
and hope to have an appointment completed by the annual meeting. If you have a
desire to fill this role on the BOD please contact ANY BOD member immediately.
As always if you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding the CATA any
of our efforts or events please feel free to contact any BOD member.
Sincerely,
Chris Mathewson,
President,
Colorado Athletic Trainers Association.
2006 CATA SYMPOSIUM AND BUSINESS MEETING
The 2006 CATA Business
Meeting and Symposium will be held on May 21, 2006 at the Metropolitan State
College of Denver. The symposium’s theme is entitled “Head to Toe”. 8 CEU’s
will be awarded to those who attend. CPR re-certification will be conducted
before the symposium begins. The Business Meeting will follow the symposium.
For more details, please click here
A Legislative Update
Well, we have begun the legislative process on Capitol Hill.
We have been through so much in the last few months. It has been a long and
somewhat stressful process thus far! Hopefully, you’ve felt updated as we’ve
been sending out e-blasts every step of the way! To summarize our bill has made
it through the House Health and Human Services committee, the House Finance and
Appropriations committees and the House Floor. We have also made it through the
Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee and are now waiting to be heard
in the Senate Appropriations Committee! However it’s not over yet! We must still
make it through the Senate Appropriations committee, the Senate Floor, back to
the House and then to the Governor before the Bill becomes law!
We have made some amendments along the way and worked hard with our opposition
to compromise on language we can BOTH live with and feel we have done so
successfully. We do not feel that we have made any compromises that will
jeopardize our practice as Athletic Trainers here in Colorado. We will
definitely be in a better position than we are now under the current exemption
law.
We are still calling on ALL MEMBERS to get involved! THANKS to those
members who have called their legislators! However, there are still MANY members
we haven’t heard from! The more legislators that hear from our membership the
better chance we have of being successful in our quest.
Please do your part by contacting your legislator. Contacting your legislator,
seemingly intimidating, is an easy process. Most legislators will even
communicate by email. If you have any questions about how to go about this
process please feel free to contact Jennifer Dougherty at 303-908-6303 or by
email at
jdougherty-atc@mindspring.com. I would be happy to help you!
Once again I must say a HUGE THANKS to our lobbyist Charlie Hebeler, Rick
Ball our legal consultant, the NATA and especially to our dedicated Legislative
Action Task Force (LATF) and the CATA BOD for all of your time and effort.
We are still very excited and looking forward to a POSITIVE OUTCOME this May!
Respectfully Submitted,
Jennifer Dougherty, MA, ATC
LATF Chair
VOTE online - 2006 Elections
The 2006 CATA Election will be completed online. With the
increase in postage it is now the most cost effective method to hold the
election. Please go to
www.votingondemand.com/cata to cast your vote.
The voting will open at 12:01 AM on May 1st and close
at 11:59 PM on May 15th.
Your login will be your last name as listed on the NATA
membership report and your password will be your NATA member number. Candidate
information is available on the voting website.
If you have any questions or login problems, please contact Robert Ryan at
970-248-1374 or rryan@mesastate.edu.
2006
EXCELLENCE IN HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC TRAINING WINNERS
Here are our winners for this year's Excellence in Colorado High School Athletic
Training Award.
Winners:
Kevin Margarucci Lewis Palmer High School
Tom Bashline Brighton High School
Runners-up:
Jaclyn Lucas Elizabeth High School
Catherine West Columbine High School
Student
Winners:
Hannah Oliver - Cheyenne Mountain High School
Tara Scott - Cheyenne Mountain High School
Brittany Daniels - Grandview High School
Awards were presented
on March 4, 2006 at the Denver Nuggets game.
Pictured (from l-r): Jim Gillen
(Denver Nuggets), Tom Bashline, Catherine West, Paul DiNapoli (Centennial
Sales), Jaclyn Lucas, Allison Gruber (Lewis-Palmer), and Kevin Margarucci.
 
STUDENT ATHLETIC TRAINER COMMITTEE
Jaclyn Lucas, committee chair, is finalizing presenters and plans for the 8th
Annual Student Athletic Trainer Symposium. Please see the student section for
registration information.
Plans are also underway to put on a summer 1st
Aid and CPR class for high school SATs and am working on the details in hopes of
having a flyer available for the students at the May symposium. Please feel
free to send Jaclyn any input in regards to this committee!
SCHOLARSHIPS COMMITTEE
Scholarship applications
for the Dan Libera and Jim Conboy Memorial Scholarships have been sent to
committee members for evaluation. The committee is reviewing the
applications, and rankings/decisions are scheduled to be made by April 21st.
Stay posted to the website for announcements of the scholarship award winners.
PUBLIC
RELATIONS
The public relations committee helped
celebrate March as National Athletic Training month in a variety of ways this
year. We began by getting a proclamations signed by governor Owens for the 5
year in a row. Member of the public relations committee sent e-cards, produced
by the NATA, to: each member of the Senate and House of Representative, each
employee of CHSAA, as many orthopedic physicians offices as we could find, and
to as many club sports associations as we could find.
Jim Gillen organized the "Excellence in
High School Athletic Training award again this year. On March 5th the awards
were given prior to the Nuggets game. Congratulations to the winners: Kevin
Margarucci - Lewis Palmer High School, and Thomas Bashline - Brighton High
School, each school received $2,000. Congratulations to the Runner-up schools:
Jaclyn Lucas - Elizabeth High School, and Catherine West - Colmbine High School,
each school received $500. Three student athletic trainer awards were also
given to the following: Brittany Daniels from Grandview High School and Hannah
Oliver and Tara Scott both from Cheyenne Mountain High School. Each of these
students received $200 to attend a summer student athletic training camp.
This month Lisa Lear is organizing
athletic trainers to work at a number of Channel 9 Health Fairs throughout the
state. This is great opportunity to educate a different group of people who may
be unfamiliar with our profession. If you would like to help, contact Lisa.
Thank you to everyone who did their own
event. I know many of you help out by setting up tables at your school career
days and health fairs. Some of you arrange for articles to be written in your
local newspapers and to have stories broadcast on local tv stations. Each year
we get more people involved in more ways, keep up the good work.
Bob Tim
Public Relations Committee chairman
FINANCE UPDATE
LATF Checking account:
$11,337.51
CATA Checking account:
$8,726.60
Putnam Investment
account: $8,615.61
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ATHLETIC TRAINING COMMITTEE
The Secondary Schools Athletic Training Committee will
have a table set up at the District 7 Symposium and Business Meeting.
Another important date to note is:
- COE/SSATC
High School Summit is scheduled for Thursday morning, June 15, 2006,
location and exact times along with the agenda will be forthcoming.
- SSATC
Session is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, June 15, 2006 at 2:30pm.
CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP
Corporate sponsorship is still
soliciting for new members any interested parties please contact me. We will be
having many of the sponsors exhibiting at the CATA meeting in May. Please stop
by and thank them for their donation and involvement.
ASTHMA
The following information about asthma is provided by Nicole Mezo, P.A.-C.
Nicole’s interest in Medicine began as an undergraduate at Colorado State
University. Ms. Mezo received her undergraduate degree from Colorado State
University, majoring in Exercise and Sport Science with a concentration in
Sports Medicine and a minor in Anatomy and Neurobiology. She received her
Physician Assistant degree from George Washington University in Washington,
D.C., and her Master’s from the University of Nebraska. Nicole has been employed
by Colorado Allergy & Asthma Centers for 10 years. She treats the majority of
the acutely ill asthma patients at Colorado Allergy & Asthma Centers. Nicole
believes strongly in educating patients about their disease process, therefore
enabling the patient control in their health management.
The statistics for asthma are staggering, despite a better understanding of the
disease process and improvements in medications. In the United States, 5,000
people per year die from asthma, 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 people seek help from
emergency departments, and 450,000 people are hospitalized.(1) Over the last few
decades, hospitalizations for asthma have increased 50%. It is estimated that
approximately 1.1% to 7.0% of asthmatic patients will die as a result of an
asthma exacerbation or “attack”. There has been a recent increase in the
incidence of mortality in older Americans due to asthma.(2) Data regarding
African Americans is also alarming. African Americans have a three-fold
increased risk of dying from an asthma flare than Caucasian Americans.(3)
This epidemic of asthma deaths is not limited to the United States alone.
Worldwide, deaths from asthma have increased. In the United Kingdom,
approximately 1,500 people succumb to asthma each year. This works out to 4
people every day or 1 person every 6 hours.(4)
Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by airway inflammation, excessive
mucus plugging and bronchoconstriction. During an acute exacerbation, the
airflow within the bronchial airways decreases, air becomes trapped, and a
ventilation-perfusion imbalance occurs. These events can lead to a decrease in
oxygen saturation, an increase in serum carbon dioxide, a change in pressure
within the thorax, an increase “in pulmonary vascular resistance, and a right
ventricular systolic overload” – all increasing the respiratory drive. If the
event is not addressed, carbon dioxide levels can markedly increase, a metabolic
acidosis occurs, muscle fatigue presents, the patient becomes exhausted, and
death becomes a possibility. Asthma exacerbations can occur very rapidly, over
the course of a few minutes to hours, or they can occur slowly, over days or
weeks.
Asthma severity, based on symptoms, is divided into three categories: mild,
moderate, or severe. These categories can be further distinguished as
intermittent or persistent. Asthma symptoms may include coughing, (dry or with
mucus); wheezing; shortness of breath; or chest symptoms such as tightness,
congestion, pressure, or discomfort. Night time or early morning awakenings may
be reported, the frequency of which is related to asthma severity.
Asthma triggers may be divided into allergic and non-allergic triggers. Allergic
triggers include pollen (tree, grass, or weed), mold spores, dust mite,
cockroach, and animal dander. Non-allergic triggers include respiratory viruses,
bacterial sinus infections, exercise, air temperature, strong scents, wood and
tobacco smoke, pollution, food preservatives (e.g. sulfites), medications (e.g.
NSAIDS, Beta-blocker) and endocrine processes (e.g. thyroid dysfunction, menses,
pregnancy).
It is imperative that people who are having symptoms be evaluated by medical
providers who use pulmonary function testing (e.g. spirometry or peak flow).
Referral to an asthma specialist is recommended for persistent asthma that is
severe or, in some cases, moderate, as well as in all cases of near-fatal
episodes. Referral is also advised when chest symptoms are not typical of
asthma, or when confounding diagnoses are present and may be adding to the
patient’s asthma or when additional testing is required.(5)
(1) Siddi A, VenKata B, Case Discussions on the Pathophysiology and Clinical
Features of Near-Fatal Asthma Episodes. Current Opinions in Pulmonary Medicine.
January 1999; Vol. 5(1): 47-56.
(2) Hartert TV, Speroff T Togias A, et al. Risk Factors for Recurrent Asthma
Hospital Visits and Death Among a Population of Indigent Older Adults with
Asthma. Annual of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. November 2002; Vol. 89:
467-473.
(3) Castro M, Near-Fatal Asthma – What Have We Learned? Chest. May 2002; Vol.
121 (5): 1394-1395.
(4) Sly RM. Changing Asthma Mortality. Annual of Allergy. September 1994; Vol.
73 (3): 259-268.
(5) Buist, AS. Diagnoses and Periodic assessment of Asthma. Clinical
Cornerstone. Aug-Sept. 1998; Vol. 1(2): 9-16.
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