SCS Patient Safety & Risk Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A certified athletic trainer discovers that a fellow staff member is documenting treatments that were never performed. The MOST appropriate initial action is to:
- Correct the records yourself to reflect accurate information
- Report the concern through the facility's compliance or reporting channel (Correct answer)
- Confront the colleague publicly during a team meeting
- Ignore the situation as it does not involve your patients
Correct answer: Report the concern through the facility's compliance or reporting channel
Fraudulent documentation must be reported through established institutional compliance pathways to protect patient safety and legal integrity.
Question 2: Which principle underlies the concept of 'assumption of risk' in sports injury liability?
- Athletes waive all rights to medical care by signing a consent form
- Participants voluntarily accept inherent risks that are known and understood (Correct answer)
- Organizations are never liable for injuries during sanctioned events
- Liability is transferred to equipment manufacturers upon product use
Correct answer: Participants voluntarily accept inherent risks that are known and understood
Assumption of risk holds that individuals who knowingly engage in activities with inherent dangers accept those specific, disclosed risks.
Question 3: An athlete presents with sudden cardiac arrest. The nearest AED is located 4 minutes away. Based on survival chain data, what is the MOST critical intervention in the first 2 minutes?
- Rescue breathing at 12 breaths per minute
- High-quality CPR with minimal interruptions (Correct answer)
- Contacting the athlete's emergency contact
- Placing the athlete in the recovery position
Correct answer: High-quality CPR with minimal interruptions
Immediate high-quality CPR maintains perfusion to the heart and brain and is the single most time-sensitive intervention before defibrillation.
Question 4: Which factor MOST increases an athletic trainer's exposure to negligence claims when using therapeutic modalities?
- Using modalities outside approved clinical protocols without documentation (Correct answer)
- Treating athletes of multiple sport types
- Supervising student athletic trainers during treatment
- Performing treatments in a shared facility space
Correct answer: Using modalities outside approved clinical protocols without documentation
Applying modalities outside established protocols without documented clinical rationale constitutes a deviation from standard of care, the foundation of negligence liability.
Question 5: A 16-year-old athlete requires emergency surgery after a practice injury. Both parents are unreachable. The athletic trainer should:
- Refuse to authorize treatment until a parent is reached
- Document attempts to contact parents and defer to the treating physician's emergency authority (Correct answer)
- Have the coach sign consent as the athlete's supervisor
- Delay treatment until the next of kin is identified
Correct answer: Document attempts to contact parents and defer to the treating physician's emergency authority
In life-threatening emergencies involving minors, the doctrine of implied consent allows medical treatment when a guardian cannot be reached and delay would cause harm.
Question 6: During preparticipation physical examinations, which cardiovascular finding requires mandatory disqualification from competitive sport per current ACC/AHA guidelines?
- Sinus bradycardia with a resting heart rate of 48 bpm
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with outflow tract obstruction (Correct answer)
- Isolated mitral valve prolapse without regurgitation
- First-degree atrioventricular block on ECG
Correct answer: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with outflow tract obstruction
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with obstruction carries a high risk of sudden cardiac death during intense exertion and is a standard disqualifying condition.
Question 7: Which scenario BEST describes a 'near miss' event in athletic training risk management?
- An athlete sustains an ACL tear during a game
- A medication error is identified and corrected before reaching the athlete (Correct answer)
- A coach ignores return-to-play guidelines
- A facility inspection reveals inadequate lighting
Correct answer: A medication error is identified and corrected before reaching the athlete
A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in harm but had the potential to do so; identifying near misses enables proactive safety system improvement.
SCS Patient Safety & Risk Management 3
A certified athletic trainer discovers that a fellow staff member is documenting treatments that were never performed.
The MOST appropriate initial action is to: