“Toughen up!” “Walk it off!” How many
times have you heard these phrases
from coaches on the sidelines of
children’s sporting events?
While coaches want to encourage
young athletes to be strong and
resilient, there are times when an
injury may warrant more than the
usual five minute break on the bench.
Nancy Mann, LMSW, Coordinator
of the Community Training Center at
Winthrop-University Hospital, has been
teaching CPR to healthcare professionals
and the community for many years
now, but recently created a special
program to educate the dedicated volunteers
who coach community athletic
programs in life saving skills.
Nancy Mann, LMSW, Coordinator of the Community Training
Center at the Winthrop Wellness Pavilion, (center) teaches CPR
to coaches of community athletics programs.
In collaboration with the Garden
City Athletic Association, Ms. Mann
launched a three-hour program
through which coaches of children’s
sports can become familiar with the
signs of traumatic chest and heart
injuries, orthopaedic injuries, concussions
and asthma – and are trained in
the American Heart Association’s
(AHA) Heartsaver® CPR and automatic
external defibrillator
(AED) course.
Instrumental to
the program’s success
has been the support
of the Louis J.
Acompora Memorial
Foundation, whose
generous donation
helped launch the
program, and support
from Island Cardiac
Specialists in Garden
City, underwriters of the program.
Tom Luzzi, RN, Nurse Manager
in the Emergency Department at
Winthrop, is the lead instructor for the
AHA Heartsaver CPR and AED course.
Mr. Luzzi and other AHA-certified
instructors at Winthrop’s Community
Training Center teach CPR to the classes
using the AHA’s CPR Anytime Kits,
which are purchased through a grant
from Island Cardiac Specialists. Each
participant gets to keep his or her kit for
subsequent use for practice or for
teaching other members of their family.
In addition to learning CPR in the
Community Coaches Education
Program, participants hear from:
Nicholas Raio, MD, cardiologist with
Island Cardiac Specialists, who discusses
Commotio Cordis – a syndrome that
results from a blunt impact to the chest
which leads to cardiac arrest and other
cardiac issues in young athletes;
John T. Gaffney, DO, Assistant
Chief, Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic
Surgery at Winthrop, who speaks about
orthopedic injuries in youth sports;
Winthrop’s innovative Community
Coaches Education Program
has formed the basis of an oral
presentation at the National
Conference of the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in
Washington, D.C. by Dr. Cataletto in
October 2009, and two important
articles authored by Dr. Cataletto,
Ms. Mann and their collaborators at
the Asthma Coalition of Long Island.
“Asthma Preparedness on the Field”
appeared in the fall edition of the
AAP’s Council on Sports Medicine
and Fitness Program publication,
and “Sports Shorts: Asthma and the
School Aged Athlete,” was published
as part of a quarterly AAP Sports
Medicine Series for physicians,
coaches and parents.
Judy Jax, RN, BSN, CEN,
Winthrop’s Trauma Coordinator, who
discusses head injuries and helps
coaches become more attuned to the
signs of a possible concussion; and
Mary Cataletto, MD, Associate
Director, Pediatric Pulmonology at
Winthrop, who discusses asthma and
children’s sports. As part of the asthma
portion of the program, Dr. Cataletto
provides coaches with adhesive fact
sheets for their clipboards, which are
donated by the Asthma Coalition of
Long Island – part of the American Lung
Association of NY, which is supported
by the NYS Department of Health.
“With community education as
our focus, we realized that we could
increase the safety of young people in
sports by increasing the knowledge
base of their athletic coaches,” said
Ms. Mann. “The feedback we have
received has been tremendous –
coaches are truly grateful for the
opportunity to become better informed
about medical issues that their players
may face.”
To date, the program has trained
more than 150 coaches from community
youth sports programs from Garden
City and beyond.
“Winthrop’s Community Coaches
Education Program is a homerun!”
said Al Vanasco, president of the
Garden City Athletic Association.
“The program has been great for the
community, and is enabling coaches of
all sports to become better educated
about important medical issues that
young athletes may face on the field.
Winthrop has been phenomenal and
without their support, we wouldn’t be
able to put these programs together.”
For additional information about
Community Coaches Education at
Winthrop, please call (516) 663-
4455.
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Vol. 20, No. 1
Winter/Spring 2010
Back to Publications
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