Athletic Trainer Workers' Comp: On-Field Injury Coverage

The moment Hamlin Damar went into cardiac arrest during the January 2023 Monday Night Football game, the Buffalo Bills' athletic training staff ran onto the field and performed the CPR that saved his life. Those athletic trainers — Denny Kellington and his colleagues — were performing exactly the work they are employed to do, in exactly the conditions that make the job genuinely dangerous. Athletic trainers don't just tape ankles. They rush onto fields mid-play, work on courts slick with sweat, manage emergencies in crowded locker rooms, and provide sideline medical services in conditions that expose them to all the physical hazards of the sports environment — without being protected by pads, helmets, or the physical preparation of the athletes they serve.

When athletic trainers are injured performing these duties, workers' compensation is their primary protection. This article explains how that coverage works, what injuries are most common, and what athletic trainers need to know to protect their rights.

Who Employs Athletic Trainers and What Coverage Looks Like

High School and University Athletic Trainers

Certified athletic trainers (ATCs) employed by public high schools and universities are government employees with full workers' comp coverage. Their employers — school districts and state institutions — carry workers' comp as required by law. Claims go through the institution's insurer or self-insurance program. High school ATCs often work across multiple sports, travel to away events, and cover practice and game environments — all of which fall within the scope of their employment for workers' comp purposes.

Professional Team Athletic Trainers

Professional sports organizations employ ATCs as full-time staff with comprehensive employment benefits, including workers' comp coverage. However, the high-value and high-pressure nature of professional sports creates unique injury contexts — the pace of professional sports medicine, the physical demands of managing large athlete rosters, and the travel requirements of road schedules all contribute to elevated injury risks for professional ATCs. Their workers' comp claims are handled through the team's insurer and supplemented by collectively bargained employment protections.

Independent Contract Athletic Trainers

Some ATCs work as independent contractors — providing services to multiple teams, schools, or events without full-time employment at any single organization. Like personal trainers in the fitness industry, these practitioners may face classification disputes when injured. However, many states apply strict classification tests that classify most ATCs as employees based on the control exerted by the teams or schools they serve. Genuinely independent ATCs should carry their own occupational accident insurance as a supplement to their professional liability coverage.

On-Field Injury Scenarios for Athletic Trainers

Rushing onto Active Playing Fields

Athletic trainers run onto fields and courts to assess injured athletes, sometimes while play is pausing or during chaotic injury-response situations. A basketball court slick with sweat, a football field where other players are still moving, or a baseball diamond with uneven infield surfaces present real fall and collision hazards. An ATC who slips on a wet court while running to attend to an injured player has a clear workers' comp claim — the activity was precisely what they were employed to do.

Manual Handling and Physical Care Tasks

Athletic training involves substantial physical labor: lifting and repositioning injured athletes, applying therapeutic modalities that require physical effort, performing therapeutic massage, and transporting injured players. Back injuries from lifting athletes — particularly at the professional level where players may weigh 250+ pounds — are among the most common workers' comp claims in athletic training. These injuries are straightforwardly work-related and fully compensable.

Needle Stick and Biological Exposure

ATCs who administer injections, handle IV lines, or manage bleeding injuries face needle stick exposure risks and bloodborne pathogen exposure. These occupational exposures are compensable under workers' comp, including coverage for testing, prophylactic treatment, and any resulting infection. OSHA bloodborne pathogen standards require employers to provide protective equipment and post-exposure protocols, and failure to comply strengthens workers' comp claims involving these exposures.

Cumulative Physical Strain

The physical demands of full-time athletic training accumulate over careers. Repeated overhead work during rehabilitation exercises, prolonged standing throughout multi-hour practice sessions, and years of physically demanding patient care produce musculoskeletal conditions that are compensable as cumulative trauma. Rotator cuff disease, lumbar disc degeneration, and carpal tunnel syndrome from years of therapeutic massage are recognized occupational diseases in the athletic training context.

Travel Coverage: Away Games and Road Trips

Injuries During Team Travel

Athletic trainers travel with teams — buses, planes, hotels, and away venues are all part of the job. Workers' comp covers injuries that occur during the course of employment, which clearly includes travel to away events when travel is a required part of the job. An ATC who is injured in a hotel slip-and-fall during an away trip, or in a vehicle accident during team transport, has a valid workers' comp claim despite being far from the home venue.

The Personal Deviation Exception

Workers' comp does not cover injuries during purely personal activities during travel, even if the travel itself is work-related. An ATC who leaves the team hotel for personal sightseeing and is injured during that personal activity is outside the scope of employment during that deviation. The injury must occur while actually performing work duties or engaged in activities incidental and necessary to the work (eating, sleeping at the hotel) to be covered.

Special Issues in Professional Sports Athletic Training

Stress and Mental Health Claims

Professional sports athletic training involves extraordinary psychological pressure — life-and-death medical decisions made in public, under television cameras, with billions of dollars at stake in athlete career outcomes. Stress-related psychiatric conditions are increasingly recognized in workers' comp systems as occupational diseases. An ATC who develops post-traumatic stress disorder following a catastrophic on-field athlete injury event may have a valid workers' comp mental health claim, though these claims face higher evidentiary hurdles than physical injury claims.

Interactions with Athletes' Workers' Comp Claims

When an athlete files a workers' comp claim alleging that inadequate medical care worsened their injury, the athletic trainer's decisions may come under scrutiny. This does not directly affect the ATC's own workers' comp rights, but it can create professional liability exposure separate from workers' comp. ATCs should ensure their employer's malpractice coverage is adequate alongside their workers' comp coverage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an athletic trainer file workers' comp for PTSD after a traumatic on-field incident?

In states that recognize mental health claims in workers' comp — including California, Washington, and several others — yes. The claim requires medical documentation connecting the PTSD to the specific work event, typically through psychiatric evaluation. These claims succeed when the triggering event was sudden, severe, and directly work-related.

I'm an ATC at a private high school. Does the school need to carry workers' comp?

In most states, yes. Private employers with one or more employees are required to carry workers' comp insurance, including private schools. If your school does not carry workers' comp, report the injury to the state workers' comp board, which can pursue the employer and may access state funds to cover your claim.

Does workers' comp cover an ATC injured while commuting to the facility?

Generally no — the "going and coming" rule excludes commute injuries from workers' comp coverage in most states. Exceptions include when the employer provides the vehicle, when the commute involves an errand for the employer, or when the employee has no fixed place of employment.

I hurt my back lifting an athlete. Can I also sue the athlete?

No. Workers' comp's exclusivity provision generally bars claims against coworkers (including athletes who are coworkers) for work-related injuries. An exception exists for intentional assault by a coworker. If the athlete intentionally harmed you, a civil claim may be possible.

What if I disagree with the team physician's disability rating for my workers' comp injury?

Request a panel qualified medical examiner (QME) in states that allow it, or have your own independent physician produce a competing rating. Disability disputes are the most commonly litigated issue in sports workers' comp cases — do not accept a rating that doesn't reflect your actual functional impairment without a second opinion.

Conclusion

Athletic trainers run toward the injury, not away from it — and in doing so, they take on real physical risk that workers' compensation is designed to address. From on-field accidents to cumulative career strain to occupational disease, the injury risks of professional athletic training are well-recognized in the legal system. What often prevents ATCs from receiving full benefits is delayed reporting, inadequate documentation, or acceptance of employer classification arguments that deny coverage. If you are an athletic trainer injured in the course of your work, report it immediately, document thoroughly, and consult a workers' compensation attorney if your claim is disputed or the benefits offered don't match the severity of your injury. The system exists to protect you — use it.