USA Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine provides sports physicals for local high schools
The comprehensive screenings, which included EKGs, help ensure that high school athletes and band members are healthy and ready to begin training for fall.
By Carol McPhail
[email protected]
More than 1,000 Mobile County high school athletes and band members visited the University of South Alabama Mitchell Center on Friday, May 29, for sports physicals, EKG screenings and CPR demonstrations.
USA Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine providers and residents, family medicine residents, pediatric residents, and adolescent medicine providers, with the help of USA nursing students and physician assistant students, evaluated the high schoolers during the daylong event. They checked the students’ height, weight, vision, blood pressure, heart, lungs, and performed an orthopaedic screening. They were also available to discuss medical needs or concerns.
“The annual sports physical event for high school athletes remains one of the strongest examples of our collaboration with schools in the community,” said Peter Rippey, M.D., CAQSM, a sports medicine physician at USA Health and assistant professor of family medicine at USA’s Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine. Rippey also serves as medical director and team physician for South Alabama Athletics. “By offering comprehensive screenings, including EKGs, we help ensure student athletes are healthy, prepared and able to begin training safely and on schedule.”
Instructors and students from the USA Department of Emergency Medical Services provided 375 EKGs in partnership with Who We Play For, a Florida nonprofit. An EKG is a quick test that records the heart’s electrical activity to screen for health conditions that increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
In addition, students had the opportunity to take part in CPR and AED demonstrations. Representatives from the American Heart Association and Mobile Fire Rescue Department worked with small groups of students at the event to practice CPR skills on manikins.
USA Health is the official provider of sports medicine for 11 Mobile County public high schools, McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, Faith Academy, and St. Luke’s Episcopal School.
