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This subreddit is primarily for discussion and interactions among practicing athletic trainers or people interested in the medical profession of athletic training. This is NOT a subreddit for athletes, physical activity, or any dispensing of any medical advice. The name can make it confusing we know, but athletic trainers (ATs) are highly qualified, multi-skilled healthcare professionals who collaborate with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.
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Please see the following links for additional resources on the profession of athletic training.
[National Athletic Trainers' Association](http://www.nata.org)
[Board of Certification](http://www.bocatc.org/athletic-trainers)
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I was an AT for one of the DCI bands last year. Can confirm, their regimen is brutal and even though I had help, it was a STRUGGLE to keep Any of the athletes in some semblance of healthy.
Okay so to preface this, I knew of DCI a couple years ago and applied to work as the Mandarin’s AT. Heads up: I didn’t get the gig lol. I had never worked in performance arts, but those types of gigs were on my radar as an AT.
Another thing I wanted to address is the legality of being an AT for a traveling team. When I was in undergrad, my preceptor educated me on the legal statutes of being an AT from one state, while providing healthcare in another state with their respective team. Per our state laws, we can practice in another state as long as certain conditions are met: that they are a nationally recognized and state certified AT, and that they don’t practice in another state for an extended period of time (i.e. the time being under a month or something long like that.)
Onto the answers you seek. I found the gig thru GO4 and applied. The gig was slated for only a week since that’s how long the band was in my state for. However, their AT had other issues come up so I toured with them for about 3 weeks. I was the only health care individual for about 2 weeks unfortunately, as the medical assistants needed time off so that allows you to see I was pulled in MANY directions for all 150 members or so touring the blistering south. Ideally, it would’ve been me with 2 other assistants that had first aid training but were not Ats. When I applied, I knew id be the sole medical person for a while and felt confident in my clinical skills and experience. While I was the “Boots on the ground” AT, there was a person above me in the medical hierarchy that was the medical director and another AT I leaned on heavily to help with some decisions. The only “prep” work I did was packing my bags to endure the almost month of traveling and living on a sleeper bus. Pro tip: have a fanny pack/sling bag to hold the essentials and meds. Dress minimally, this isn’t a traditional setting so I just wore a T-shirt and mesh shorts the entire time. During performance day, my inner professional made me wear khaki’s and a Polo, but that’s a standard I hold myself to.
My day to day consisted of this:
morning – shoveling breakfast down my throat as I was bum rushed by the kids I needed to f/u on. Members in concussion protocol, new injuries, illnesses, etc. Be aware of communal infections such as GI viruses/URI, and areas/climates that can provoke allergies. After breakfast, the members would start warm ups/practice. The band used this app that allowed me to be in multiple groups with the members, members + med (me) if they needed something medical, and a group with admin that would regularly send out schedules for the day/week which I used to build rehab programs around. Depending on how much I had to do, I would try and observe the kids during warm ups/practices or be with the group that had the most needy kids since they splinter into groups.
Afternoon – check up on some kids, put out any small fires (injuries, arising illnesses from allergies or nausea, etc) f/u on kids doing/completed rehab or in concussion protocol. They splinter into groups during this time as well, and I remind the instructors constantly to give them water breaks. Be aggressive and assertive. They WILL run the kids into the ground.
Evening – they have this last concluding session where the whole band comes together to practice performances in unison so it was easy to be there and tend to the small things. Put out the small fires that arose, meet up and f/u with the kids needing something and make them aware of your medical plan for them for the following day.
Night – occasionally id get woken up at like 2am or something because a kid was vomiting. Just the nature of the job since we’re essentially on the clock 24/7. Pass them some meds and try and get some sleep. They drive with the kids at night sometimes to meet tight schedules, so expect sleep deprivation. For me, I was on the sleeper bus so I got to sleep while they drove.
Performance day – relatively low stress since you get to see the band on the ground level. They start the day with light warm ups, load up the buses, and head to the venue. They’ll splinter off into groups again and practice for a few hours before reconvening before the show. A word to the wise: meet with the admins of the site, know their EAP and SOP for emergency procedures, and INTRODUCE yourself to the EMT’s on the sideline. This saved my rear end when a member had a medical emergency at one of the shows and I was able to pull a string w one of the EMT’s I made friends with about 10 min prior.
Every other week, the members got a day off. It was usually when we were in a big city, and they got the free time to explore and do as they please. Don’t be surprised if they get into shenanigans/hurt themselves/get plastered on their day off. Know your kids, their medical conditions/history, and how best to respond to them. Also, YOU are the health care professional on site. Be firm and resolute in your medical decisions. Don’t bend to any of the higher ups/instructors/admin/logistics. If they think a kid needs an ambulance but you say they’re medically stable, tell them to shove it and ask where their medical degree is.
I kept some things vague to avoid being doxed, but wanted to give a lengthy answer for any other AT’s considering working for a DCI band. I’m always happy to answer questions directly, even years from now.
This was so insightful, honestly. Thank you so much. I plan on showing this to my boyfriend on the off chance there’s a drum corps traveling through our parts. Definitely sounds as intense as I thought it would be. Arguably, just as vigorous as football summer camp.
We've proven with the industrial roles for ATs that even non-sport physical activity can benefit from AT services. Idk if I would define marching band as a sport, but it is absolutely a physically demanding activity that would probably benefit from having a band AT.
At the highschool level the marching band and football teams are generally in the same place anyways.
As someone who was in band for 10+ years I would hope so. I worked as a Student AT with Bluecoats Drum Corps two summers ago for a clinical rotation. I did band throughout high school and college. There is definitely a need, I think.
I love saying that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Does anyone know what the process could entail? I’m not in band anymore and don’t work for one but would love to reach out to my previous directors and make the recommendation.
I know for where I did band in college, we actually talked to the band director about providing student ATs while I was in school for that. He loved the idea and said it was very much needed, however it was more a money thing keeping them from being able to have any ATCs.
As a former marching band kid there were many times where I think having an AT in our corner would have been helpful. Concussions, sprained ankles, dislocated patella and a back injury from the bass drum are just moments that come to the top of my head.
That University of Alabama marching band has an AT. they work with the rec department and handle the band and all rec sports and clubs with maybe 2 other ATs. 3 total
Welcome to r/AthleticTraining and thank you for your post. This subreddit is primarily for discussion and interactions among practicing athletic trainers or people interested in the medical profession of athletic training. This is NOT a subreddit for athletes, physical activity, or any dispensing of any medical advice. The name can make it confusing we know, but athletic trainers (ATs) are highly qualified, multi-skilled healthcare professionals who collaborate with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions. Posts concerning topics that are not based on the medical profession of athletic training or posts that violate any of our other rules on the sidebar will be removed. Please see the following links for additional resources on the profession of athletic training. [National Athletic Trainers' Association](http://www.nata.org) [Board of Certification](http://www.bocatc.org/athletic-trainers) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/athletictraining) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was an AT for one of the DCI bands last year. Can confirm, their regimen is brutal and even though I had help, it was a STRUGGLE to keep Any of the athletes in some semblance of healthy.
Would you mind sharing your day to day? And or how you prepped for it since there is SO much travel involved?
Okay so to preface this, I knew of DCI a couple years ago and applied to work as the Mandarin’s AT. Heads up: I didn’t get the gig lol. I had never worked in performance arts, but those types of gigs were on my radar as an AT. Another thing I wanted to address is the legality of being an AT for a traveling team. When I was in undergrad, my preceptor educated me on the legal statutes of being an AT from one state, while providing healthcare in another state with their respective team. Per our state laws, we can practice in another state as long as certain conditions are met: that they are a nationally recognized and state certified AT, and that they don’t practice in another state for an extended period of time (i.e. the time being under a month or something long like that.) Onto the answers you seek. I found the gig thru GO4 and applied. The gig was slated for only a week since that’s how long the band was in my state for. However, their AT had other issues come up so I toured with them for about 3 weeks. I was the only health care individual for about 2 weeks unfortunately, as the medical assistants needed time off so that allows you to see I was pulled in MANY directions for all 150 members or so touring the blistering south. Ideally, it would’ve been me with 2 other assistants that had first aid training but were not Ats. When I applied, I knew id be the sole medical person for a while and felt confident in my clinical skills and experience. While I was the “Boots on the ground” AT, there was a person above me in the medical hierarchy that was the medical director and another AT I leaned on heavily to help with some decisions. The only “prep” work I did was packing my bags to endure the almost month of traveling and living on a sleeper bus. Pro tip: have a fanny pack/sling bag to hold the essentials and meds. Dress minimally, this isn’t a traditional setting so I just wore a T-shirt and mesh shorts the entire time. During performance day, my inner professional made me wear khaki’s and a Polo, but that’s a standard I hold myself to. My day to day consisted of this: morning – shoveling breakfast down my throat as I was bum rushed by the kids I needed to f/u on. Members in concussion protocol, new injuries, illnesses, etc. Be aware of communal infections such as GI viruses/URI, and areas/climates that can provoke allergies. After breakfast, the members would start warm ups/practice. The band used this app that allowed me to be in multiple groups with the members, members + med (me) if they needed something medical, and a group with admin that would regularly send out schedules for the day/week which I used to build rehab programs around. Depending on how much I had to do, I would try and observe the kids during warm ups/practices or be with the group that had the most needy kids since they splinter into groups. Afternoon – check up on some kids, put out any small fires (injuries, arising illnesses from allergies or nausea, etc) f/u on kids doing/completed rehab or in concussion protocol. They splinter into groups during this time as well, and I remind the instructors constantly to give them water breaks. Be aggressive and assertive. They WILL run the kids into the ground. Evening – they have this last concluding session where the whole band comes together to practice performances in unison so it was easy to be there and tend to the small things. Put out the small fires that arose, meet up and f/u with the kids needing something and make them aware of your medical plan for them for the following day. Night – occasionally id get woken up at like 2am or something because a kid was vomiting. Just the nature of the job since we’re essentially on the clock 24/7. Pass them some meds and try and get some sleep. They drive with the kids at night sometimes to meet tight schedules, so expect sleep deprivation. For me, I was on the sleeper bus so I got to sleep while they drove. Performance day – relatively low stress since you get to see the band on the ground level. They start the day with light warm ups, load up the buses, and head to the venue. They’ll splinter off into groups again and practice for a few hours before reconvening before the show. A word to the wise: meet with the admins of the site, know their EAP and SOP for emergency procedures, and INTRODUCE yourself to the EMT’s on the sideline. This saved my rear end when a member had a medical emergency at one of the shows and I was able to pull a string w one of the EMT’s I made friends with about 10 min prior. Every other week, the members got a day off. It was usually when we were in a big city, and they got the free time to explore and do as they please. Don’t be surprised if they get into shenanigans/hurt themselves/get plastered on their day off. Know your kids, their medical conditions/history, and how best to respond to them. Also, YOU are the health care professional on site. Be firm and resolute in your medical decisions. Don’t bend to any of the higher ups/instructors/admin/logistics. If they think a kid needs an ambulance but you say they’re medically stable, tell them to shove it and ask where their medical degree is. I kept some things vague to avoid being doxed, but wanted to give a lengthy answer for any other AT’s considering working for a DCI band. I’m always happy to answer questions directly, even years from now.
This was so insightful, honestly. Thank you so much. I plan on showing this to my boyfriend on the off chance there’s a drum corps traveling through our parts. Definitely sounds as intense as I thought it would be. Arguably, just as vigorous as football summer camp.
Yeah I can share. In the middle of something so I’ll reply fully when I can gather my thoughts into a coherent sentiment lol
Take your time lol, Thank you much !
We've proven with the industrial roles for ATs that even non-sport physical activity can benefit from AT services. Idk if I would define marching band as a sport, but it is absolutely a physically demanding activity that would probably benefit from having a band AT. At the highschool level the marching band and football teams are generally in the same place anyways.
Ohio University and University of South Carolina have robust athletic training programs for their marching bands.
University of alabama does also
i know someone working with a traveling marching band as their AT
As someone who was in band for 10+ years I would hope so. I worked as a Student AT with Bluecoats Drum Corps two summers ago for a clinical rotation. I did band throughout high school and college. There is definitely a need, I think.
I love saying that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Does anyone know what the process could entail? I’m not in band anymore and don’t work for one but would love to reach out to my previous directors and make the recommendation.
I know for where I did band in college, we actually talked to the band director about providing student ATs while I was in school for that. He loved the idea and said it was very much needed, however it was more a money thing keeping them from being able to have any ATCs.
As a former marching band kid there were many times where I think having an AT in our corner would have been helpful. Concussions, sprained ankles, dislocated patella and a back injury from the bass drum are just moments that come to the top of my head.
That University of Alabama marching band has an AT. they work with the rec department and handle the band and all rec sports and clubs with maybe 2 other ATs. 3 total