Since 1995, Sports Medicine Concepts, Inc., has been the leading provider of elite sports emergency care training and emergency action planning services for the country’s most demanding medical teams, the likes of whom include the National Football League, the United State Olympic & Paralympic Committee Sports Medicine, the US Naval Academy, West Point, and countless professional sports teams, NCAA institutions, hospitals, private sports medicine clinics, and EMS agencies. In June Sports Medicine Concepts, Inc., officially opened its new 11,000 sq ft elite sports emergency care training and research facility in Avon, NY. SMC Founder, CEO, and Director of Operations, Mike Cendoma says the opening of the new facility coincides with the company’s 25 year anniversary. The new facility is drawing praise from many longtime SMC partners, including NFL Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Allen Sills. “For over a decade, NFL clubs have relied on Sports Medicine Concepts to inform our emergency care training and emergency action planning. SMC’s professionalism, attention to detail, and instructional expertise offer our club medical staff the support they need to help keep our players as safe as possible,” said Dr. Sills. “I look forward to seeing how Mike and the SMC team use their new facility to continue enriching the capabilities of sports medicine providers at all levels in the years to come.”
SMC’s new facility boasts 30 yards of indoor turf that can be transformed into any type of playing surface, including ice, a basketball court, and even a boxing ring. The facility also has a fully functional ambulance simulator, a mock trauma bay, a corps of 6 hi-fidelity patient simulators, and vast content production capabilities. Cendoma says the new facility will allow his company to expand its role as a world leader in sports emergency care simulation training by offering medical teams a venue for intense true-to-life interdisciplinary training. The new facility will also expand the company’s abilities to provide realistic simulation training by allowing his staff to conduct research and gather intelligence relating to interdisciplinary medical team dynamics, performance benchmarking, best practice standards, and management protocols along the entire spectrum of sports emergency care. The intelligence gathered at the company’s new facility will support its evidence based educational programming and emergency action planning services, including TeamEMSoft, the company’s premier emergency action planning software application, its Skull Sessions podcast, safe handling product reviews, national education summits, EMS and fire/rescue training, and of course, the company’s longtime flagship In 2Min or Less!® Sports emergency care curriculum that is presented annually throughout the country The new facility will also allow the company to further expand on its new livestream distance based simulation training experience. Cendoma says that live stream distance based simulation training was in the works for a number of years, but the COVID crisis ramped up his company’s efforts so they could meet the needs of its clients who need training during a time when gathering is a challenge. SMC met the challenge by repurposing much of its existing technology and equipment to produce livestream simulation training. The program was well conceived and we all felt we had a nice band-aide to get everyone through the pandemic, Cendoma said. But, I must admit, we were all taken back at just how well the program did. It was so successful that Cendoma immediately added the livestream simulation experience to the company’s portfolio of services. The new training center will allow us to produce even more true-to-life simulation, and live stream it to medical teams anywhere in the world. It is very exciting to say the least, Cendoma said. Cendoma’s motivation for founding SMC a quarter century ago stems from an injury scenario that played out in front of him early on in his career as an athletic trainer. The athlete was critically injured. I watched his eyes roll back as he lost consciousness, Cendoma said. All I can think is how scared he and his family must have been as he lost consciousness wondering if we were going to be able to help him. As health care providers we did not do a good job that day. In spite of our poor management, the athlete made a full recovery; and I swore I would never put another son, daughter, mom, or dad in that situation again. There is a risk associated with participation in athletics. The immeasurable rewards, however, far outweigh those risks. It is SMC’s job, Cendoma says, to make sure that risk stays somewhere down low in the weeds. SMC employs 15 highly skilled medical professionals, simulation experts, tech specialists, and researchers to carry out its mission. Employees at SMC are athletic trainers, critical care paramedics, emergency medical technicians, trauma physicians, and networking specialists. But it’s not all work and no play at SMC. Cendoma says the new training facility also features a large catering kitchen to keep everyone well fed during programming. Employees can also kick back in the staff team room which features a gaming console, foosball table, and multiple big screens to watch every big game. It’s a great work environment, Cendoma says. We are all driven to protect the safety of athletes and the integrity of athletic competition. For all the latest news and activity coming from the Elite Sports Emergency Care Training Facility follow SMC on Twitter and Instagram, subscribe on YouTube, and Like SMC on FaceBook.