Posts
35696
Joined
7/10/2006
Location
Aliso Viejo, CA
US
Fantasy
988th
Edited Date/Time
4/10/2017 4:40pm
This week's Vital MX Forum QNA is with Eddie Casillas. Just about any weekend there's racing, you'll find him at the wheel of an Asterisk Mobile Medical Mule. He's the Head Athletic Trainer at Asterisk Mobile Medical unit, and the Director of Sports Medicine/Owner at iCHOR Sports Medicine.
Just as a heads-up, while he knows a ton about training and sports injury management, he's not a replacement for a medical doctor. Questions about how to fix your Ortho problems will likely go unanswered. Also, he'll be at the surf portion of SurferCross tomorrow and won't start answering questions until after that. But in the meantime, post up your best questions!
Is there any type of safety gear that you'd like to see every rider start wearing? And is there any sort of injury you see more than others that might have been prevented had the rider been wearing the proper safety equipment?
The Shop
Where do you see the NATA (National Athletic Trainer Association) and BOC heading to assist ATC/Ls in billing certain insurances?
It seems silly that even small school high school football teams travel with trainers, yet a sport as dangerous as ours the teams rely on Asterisk to provide assistance for everyone.
If so I would like to see a list or graph of how many riders you have treated each year. Something like this, ( using made up numbers)
............ SX MX
2000.... 10 13
2001.... 11 14
2002.... 12 15
Ect
Ect
Ect
2014.... 22 17
Thanks
Up until this year I had only missed 3 races, 1 weather related, 1 for the birth of my son, 1 for the birth of my daughter. Thats 3 races in 14 years doing every SX, National, Monster Cup and 9 MXD's. The time I spend actually traveling always gets old but all that goes away the minute I get to the track.
The wife and I have talked about cutting back when our kids get older but she also knows how much I love being at the races.
A number of years ago a few MOTO docs got together and presented at a medical conference some data regarding injury rates in SX vs Professional football to demonstrate that SX is a safe sport. To do so they compared injury rates during NFL football games vs. SX races. By looking at contact time or the time that the players/riders where actually competing the docs found that moto was "safer". When you look at how relatively short a play in football takes and how not every player plays every down vs. one rider doing two practice sessions a heat race and main you can see that the window of opportunity for injury is greater in SX. Even though contact time was greater in SX the data showed that football sustained more injuries.
With regards to what safety gear I think riders should start wearing more. Back and chest protection and I don't mean the roost protectors I mean legit padding. The problem is that the stuff currently out is not designed for the demands of MX/SX. Get 5-10 or your pickiest riders and test with them until you have a product they would wear not PAID to wear.
As fans, we often hear about how many people with no formal education and background label themselves as "trainers" and work on these athletes. Does that really go on as much as we are lead to believe? And if so, what are your thoughts about it?
I have sent in proposals to numerous teams about bringing me on as an Athletic Trainer/Strength and Conditioning Coach and the most common answer I get is "Our riders are Independent Contractors we no have control over them" "They are expected to be ready to perform on race day".
I have tried to educate teams on the capabilities of Athletic Trainers but it always seems to fall on deaf ears.
What type of requirements does it take to get involved at Asterisk?
I'm asking because my daughter is in a PT program at college and her goal is to work with athletes in the same way you do, what advice would you give her.
Pit Row
Do you, or have you, had any experience working with racers that have scoliosis? I'm currently an A class racer in the aim of going after a professional license, I've dealt with back problems and scoliosis the last few years of racing (23 degree curve in lumbar + rotation).
If you have, is there any specific training areas, excersises, stretches, and even possibly rehab/recovery you would have for that racer? And if you haven't, is there anything you could recommend?
I know it can't be fixed but if I could do things to make it better/strong I would gladly do so. Again, I appeciate your time, thanks!
Sorry for the morbid and extreme question...
God forbid, if a rider needs live saving intervention immediately on the side of the track do you have a protocol in place?
What is it? Are the rider's aware of this protocol?
http://www.mxsms.org
Not much has been written about them but I am hoping in the future as they begin putting out some information from the research they have been working on we will. When we talk about the effectiveness of neck braces and chest protectors or how can we do a better job at diagnosing concussions, this group can provide the information in a non-bias way.
I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things Ryan Hughes says or does but when it comes to riding a dirt bike you have to consider him an expert. So when the topic of neck braces came up and Ryan started talking about riding mechanics and injuries I listened. He made a very powerful argument as to why he is against them that resonated with me. He said if a rider is to wear something that takes them out of the most optimum riding position it puts that rider at a higher risk of making a mistakes that could lead to crashing. He was basing his argument on comparing the riding position of athletes wearing vs. not wearing a neck brace at the tracks he went to.
This is something I constantly talk to riders about with regards to injury rehabilitation. If you can not get back into the most optimum riding position because of shoulder weakness or a stiff knee you open the door for another injury.
We can go back and forth on this topic until the cows come home so I will say this. Since I have been covering SX/MX races with the Asterisk Mobile Medical Center there have been only 2 cases of paralysis one was a cervical the other thoracic.
Thanks for taking part in the Forum QNA.
If I had to pick just one. Based on talent, skill, personality, showmanship, fan appreciation just the overall package. Travis Pastrana
What I find interesting is how vastly different protocols are from event to event. For example paramedics at one race can do everything under the sun, but the following week the paramedics have their hands tied.
We deal mostly with acute injuries throughout the day from collisions or falls on the track where a staff member might have to splint, backboard, C-Collar a rider or make a split second decision as to whether or not to allow a rider to continue riding. This is not an area that PT's are educated in. Although I have on many occasions brought PT's out on the track to get some experience so that they can better understand the injury process and perhaps better help their patients.
Now if your daughter wants a job in a clinical/field setting that working with some of these athletes have her contact me. I am always looking for PT's who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.
Post a reply to: Vital MX Forum QNA: Eddie Casillas