ATC key terms

A comprehensive health screening completed before an athlete begins practice or competition that reviews medical history, immunizations, and cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and concussion risk to identify conditions requiring restriction or follow-up.

An active preparatory routine of sport-specific movements, such as lunges, skips, and leg swings, performed at increasing intensity to raise core temperature, improve mobility, and prime the nervous system before activity.

A subjective scale, commonly 6 to 20 or 0 to 10, on which an athlete reports how hard exercise feels; clinicians use it to gauge and adjust training intensity and to monitor recovery.

A gradual 10- to 14-day progression of exercise in the heat that expands plasma volume, improves sweating, and lowers core temperature and cardiovascular strain, reducing exertional heat illness risk.

A composite environmental index combining air temperature, humidity, and radiant heat that guides activity modification and rest-break scheduling during hot-weather practices.

A prevention program of balance, plyometric, and landing-control drills that improves joint position sense and movement mechanics, reducing ACL and other lower-extremity injury rates.

A spectrum of heat-related conditions, from cramps and syncope to heat exhaustion and heat stroke, caused by heat production exceeding dissipation during exertion; prevention relies on hydration, acclimatization, and activity modification.

The description of how and under what circumstances tissue was loaded, including the direction, magnitude, and speed of force, which guides hypotheses about the structures involved.

A ranked list of plausible conditions that could explain a patient's signs and symptoms, systematically narrowed by history, inspection, palpation, and special tests.

An anterior cruciate ligament test performed with the knee flexed 20 to 30 degrees while the femur is stabilized and the tibia is translated anteriorly; a soft endpoint with increased excursion suggests a tear.

The area of skin supplied by a single spinal nerve root; mapping sensation across dermatomes helps localize neurologic injury such as cervical or lumbar nerve root compromise.

A group of muscles innervated by a single spinal nerve root, tested manually to identify the level of nerve root involvement in radicular or spinal injuries.

A graded 0 to 5 assessment in which the clinician resists an isolated movement and palpates the tendon to estimate strength, from no contraction to normal resistance through full range.

A finding in the history or examination, such as night pain, unexplained weight loss, or bowel and bladder changes, that signals serious pathology and warrants physician referral rather than routine care.

A brief screen of smooth pursuits, saccades, convergence, and the vestibulo-ocular reflex that provokes symptoms after concussion and helps track recovery; it is not a stand-alone diagnostic test.

A standardized count of postural errors during double-leg, single-leg, and tandem stances on firm and foam surfaces, used to quantify balance deficits after concussion.

A written, rehearsed, site-specific protocol that specifies personnel roles, communication, equipment location, emergency access routes, and activation of EMS for catastrophic events.

A rapid, systematic check of responsiveness and the airway, breathing, circulation, and severe bleeding before any secondary assessment, aimed at identifying and correcting life threats.

A mnemonic for secondary-assessment history: Signs and symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Past medical history, Last oral intake, and Events leading to the injury or illness.

Manual stabilization and, when indicated, immobilization of the head and spine to limit movement during transfer, applied with a validated decision tool rather than for every suspected injury.

A portable device that analyzes cardiac rhythm and delivers a shock for shockable rhythms; early use within minutes of collapse is the strongest predictor of survival in sudden cardiac arrest.

Placing a suspected exertional heat stroke patient in ice water with continuous stirring while protecting the airway; cooling begins immediately and continues until core temperature reaches approximately 38.6 degrees Celsius.

A prefilled device delivering intramuscular epinephrine into the outer thigh for anaphylaxis; it is given promptly at the first sign of airway or systemic involvement, followed by EMS activation.

Repeated checks of circulation, motion, and sensation, including pulses, capillary refill, color, and light touch, distal to an injury or splint to detect compromise requiring immediate intervention.

A life-threatening state in which tissue perfusion is inadequate, producing restlessness, a weak rapid pulse, pale cool skin, and falling blood pressure; management includes positioning, warmth, and urgent transport.

Strengthening performed against gradually increasing loads, typically 8 to 12 repetitions for hypertrophy or higher loads for strength, once healing tissue can tolerate resistance.

A stretching and facilitation technique using patterns of contraction and relaxation, such as contract-relax, to increase range of motion and improve neuromuscular control.

Application of cold, such as ice bags, cold packs, or immersion, to reduce pain, metabolism, and secondary injury in acute care; it is typically limited to short applications with skin checks.

Delivery of high-frequency acoustic energy to deep tissues to raise tissue temperature and promote extensibility; parameters and contraindications, such as over growth plates or malignancy, must be respected.

Skilled, graded passive oscillation or glide of a joint surface performed by the clinician to restore accessory motion, reduce pain, and improve range of motion.

A criterion-based decision that the athlete has full, pain-free function, normal strength and proprioception, and completed sport-specific progressions, made collaboratively with the team physician.

The level of care a reasonably prudent professional with similar training would provide in similar circumstances; it is the benchmark for judging negligence.

The range of duties, skills, and responsibilities a clinician is legally and educationally authorized to perform, defined by state practice acts and professional standards.

The patient's voluntary agreement to evaluation or treatment after understanding the nature of the procedure, its risks and benefits, and reasonable alternatives, documented appropriately.

A federal law protecting the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information, governing how records are shared, stored, and disclosed.

A claim requiring four elements: duty, breach of that duty, causation, and damages; in athletic training it usually involves an alleged failure to provide reasonable care, evaluate, or refer.

A contemporaneous written record organized as Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan that supports clinical reasoning, continuity of care, and legal defensibility.

A systematic process of identifying, reducing, and funding exposures such as facility hazards, equipment failure, and liability through policies, inspections, education, and insurance.