EP 13 Profiling the Injuries of Law Enforcement Recruits During Academy Training with Dr. Jay Dawes

The prevalence and impact of recruit injuries during academy physical training is a significant issue. Recruit injuries can cause recruits to fall out of the training cadence resulting in a failure to successfully complete the academy, back-trooping and in serious cases, eliminating the recruits law enforcement employment prospects altogether.   Therefore, the need for evidence-based injury prevention programs in law enforcement academies to minimize the high incidence of injuries, particularly during physical training is a critical issue. Dr. Jay Dawes is an Associate Professor of Applied Exercise Science at Oklahoma State University. Dawes has worked as a university athletic performance coordinator, strength/performance coach, personal trainer, and educator for approximately 25 years. His paper ‘Profiling the Injuries of Law Enforcement Recruits During Academy Training’ was published in Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation. In this interview Jay provides insightful data and knowledge on the influencing factors of law enforcement injuries during training and how to mitigate those injuries. Topics discussed in this podcast are the common law enforcement training conditions that inflict injury, the most common types of injury, Strategies that should be considered to 'pre-habilitate' recruits against injuries during training, Effectiveness of a 'voluntary' pre-academy fitness program, and the relationship between previous injuries potentially causing future injuries.  This interview contains practical insights on how strategically prioritizing injury prevention as part of training design is crucial for the safety of recruits and the effectiveness of law enforcement organizations.