SMC’s Core4® Approach Transforms Skilled Medical Providers into Life-Saving Medical Teams for North Jersey’s Sports Teams

On July 27th, 2022, Justin Corcoran, an Orthopedic Istitute of New Jersey sports medicine coordinator and an athletic trainer from Sussex County, held a Sports Medicine Concepts Core4 workshop for Athletic Trainers in Northern New Jersey. SMC’s Core4® Experiences use full-scale simulation to create a true-to-life environment in which interdisciplinary medical teams collaborate and discover ways to improve on how to care for an injured athlete. 

SMC’s Core4® focuses on four core elements that are known to impact lives: organization, leadership, collaboration, and clinical decision-making. The Orthopedic Institute of New Jersey sponsored this event and partnered with Sports Medicine Concepts to ensure athletic trainers have the most up-to-date medical knowledge and skills in emergency situations. 

Justin Corcoran developed a passion for helping athletes early on in his career and quickly realized the need for identifying and stabilizing critical injuries on the field. We sat down with Justin to learn more about his passion for training athletes and the value of the SMC course. Justin noted, “The thing that stuck out to me, I was able to diagnose a spleen rupture. That was a life-or-death situation where I was able to help a hockey player and he was able to get the treatment he needed. That has really impacted my love for this career; helping athletes get back on the field.”

Describing the course, Justin said, “The event helps the doctors, EMS crews, and athletic trainers. It’s for any medical personnel on the sideline, who is there to help the athlete. It’s a team approach and that’s the whole point of this course; to make everyone realize it takes more than one person to care for an athlete in these scenarios.

Justin reiterated how working together and being prepared helps save lives. “Ideally, you’re performing this training on an annual basis with your medical team. This is ensuring that in times of trouble, you know what to do, and you’re not overwhelmed by the moment. This course was a nice 8-hour course, it had all the local athletic trainers work together. We’re trying to get ready for Friday and Saturday night when hundreds or thousands of people are looking at you, so you know what you’re doing. It’s making sure the whole medical team is up to date and you’re doing everything properly. It’s enforcing the latest trends and protocols.”  

When it comes to student-athletes, Justin describes how the level of care from OINJ is second to none. “OINJ is making sure its medical team is doing everything possible to stay up to date on the latest trends; we’re ensuring the athletes are getting the best care possible. From the student-athlete standpoint, OINJ will go above and beyond and get you in as soon as possible. We will reach out to athletic trainers and make sure they’re getting in that day or the next day. They help expedite the process for any imaging you might need. They really make sure these athletes are getting in and out and back on the field as quickly as possible.”