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BOC Facility Principles Assessment

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July 17, 2018

By Elizabeth L. Augustine, MS, LAT, ATC

The BOC has a wonderful tool to assess the safety of each clinician’s athletic training facility, specifically geared toward the secondary and post-secondary educational institutions. The tool allows clinicians to systematically review the policies, procedures and facilities the Athletic Trainer (AT) oversees. The BOC Facility Principles online tool is in a basic yes or no format and located on the BOC website at www.bocatc.org/facility.

It is simple to complete and identifies all areas needed to ensure safety within an athletic training facility and program. It can be completed with a printable version or online tool. All you need to provide is your email, create a password and the assessment can begin. It can be customized to include the name of the facility, and you can even assess more than one facility. The online tool is helpful because it will compile a detailed and summary report on the answers provided to highlight the areas in need.

This is how the actual assessment looks, when completing online.

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It is basically a blue print for all your policies and procedures, laying the foundation for the athletic training program and facility. The tool takes the clinician through varying sections, such as Accessibility, Privacy and Confidentiality, Employee Safety Part 1 and 2, and Display of Licenses, Certifications and Professional Standards. These sections aim to ensure that the athletic training facility is in compliance with state, federal and oversight agencies. On a side note, if you are considering applying for a National Athletic Trainers’ Association Safe Sports School award for the secondary school setting, it is a fantastic tool to prepare any clinician for that application.

A positive about this assessment is it allows the clinician to connect with multiple departments of the school, such as the school nurse, the legal team, social worker and even maintenance to help determine areas in need of improvement. For example, within the employee safety section, there are questions regarding electrical safety and ground fault interrupters, which may prompt a clinician to collaborate with the maintenance staff to determine whether the facility has these. It encourages teamwork, as any quality sports medicine team should. A complete assessment should include many different people, groups and specialties.

If you are a new AT, this tool is a must to complete! Not only does it clearly take you through everything you need, but its concise nature highlights what is needed in your program. And even for those seasoned clinicians, it is a nice review of how your facility should be operating. It would even be a good part of your annual facility review.

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About the Author

Elizabeth augustine

Elizabeth L. Augustine, MS, LAT, ATC has been an Athletic Trainer since 2006 and lives in Claypool, Indiana. She graduated from Manchester College with degrees in Athletic Training and Exercise Science and a minor in Spanish in 2006. She received her Master’s in Organizational Leadership and Supervision for Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne in 2009. She currently works as an Athletic Trainer for a Sports Medicine doctor in Warsaw, Indiana. Her athletic training interests include concussions, creating policies and procedures, and injury rehabilitation. In her spare time, she enjoys running, playing tennis, doing puzzles, and spending time with her husband and two young daughters.

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