Glodowski, Premo treat injuries
Cassie Glodowski said people often misunderstand what she does for a living.
“People hear the word ‘trainer’ and they think you work at a local gym helping people with their workouts, but that’s not it at all,” said Glodowski, Waupaca High School’s licensed athletic trainer since 2015.
Licensed athletic trainers, sometimes referred to LATs, are highly qualified health care professionals who work with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, therapeutic intervention and rehabilitation of injuries and medical conditions.
The Waupaca and Weyauwega-Fremont school districts contract with ThedaCare Orthopedic Care to provide LAT services. Trainers attend practices and games where they treat injured students. They also work with injured students on a treatment plan and provide safety and injury prevention information to coaches and players.
“Licensed athletic trainers receive a lot of training to help athletes with any injuries they are facing,” said Gary Premo, who works with Weyauwega-Fremont athletes. “We attend games in case there are injuries to evaluate and provide treatment. We work right at the school and work with injured students on a treatment plan, whether it’s icing, rest or sharing some stretching exercises.”
LATs are licensed medical professionals who are required to take continuing education courses. Glodowski and Premo are board-certified credentialed, which means they passed a national accredited program test.
Since the trainers work with athletes in a variety of sports, they need to treat everything from a suspected concussion to a pulled muscle. While different sports have different injuries, Premo said there are some commonalities.
Premo joined ThedaCare in 2008 and has a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from the University of New Mexico. He also is a certified Kinesio taping practitioner, an ImPACT concussion program trainer and an emergency medical technician.
Glodowski, a Waupaca High School graduate, has a bachelor’s degree in applied health science with a concentration in athletic training and physical therapy and certificates in fitness management and coaching from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. She also has a master’s degree in athletic training and is working toward her certified strength and conditioning certification.