This is one heck of a way to start out National Athletic Trainer Month…

Paul Welliver, a name that should be remembered and learned about. Welliver is a certified athletic trainer in Maryland and was until a few weeks ago the athletic trainer at Winters Mill High School. The only one the school has ever known; being outsourced from Maryland SportsCare & Rehab. The admin at the High School asked his employer to have him no longer provide service for them. Welliver (at time of post) has not been fired from Maryland SportsCare & Rehab.

Why, you ask?

Because this athletic trainer stood up for what he believed and knows about concussions. Unfortunately, this scene is all to familiar with us high school athletic trainers. The story is from Carroll County Times;

The Carroll County Public Schools Supervisor of Athletics Jim Rodriguez and Winters Mill High School Principal Eric King told Welliver’s boss at Maryland SportsCare & Rehab that they did not want him to continue his position at Winters Mill, according to Welliver. After 10 years as the school’s athletic trainer, his last day was Feb. 12. […] Welliver said on four different occasions in the last 18 months, he refused to begin the protocol that is meant to gradually release student-athletes back into sports participation after a concussion. The protocol, also known as Return to Play, is supposed to begin once a student-athlete returns a medical clearance form after their injury has been classified as a concussion.

In this school district they have a pretty solid concussion policy and protocol highlighted in the story, however when the one person – and last line of defense for the student-athlete – stands up for the protection of the children he is summarily dismissed;

He said the athletic trainer has to sign off on a student-athlete’s return to full contact and competition following a diagnosed concussion. Welliver’s refusal to start the protocol all four times was because he was concerned about the safety of the student-athletes, he said. He is worried about their short- and long-term health, he said. “There are times when I do not believe they should return to the sport,” Welliver said. “It is not safe.” […] “I treat all those athletes like they are my children,” he said. “Sometimes I spend more time with other people’s children than my own.”