PICKERINGTON, Ohio (WCMH) — As high school football teams get in their final pre-season workouts, the medical specialists who will be on the sidelines are getting ready too.

The Pickerington Central Tigers team spent some time in the weight room on Monday. Kylie Powell, an OhioHealth athletic trainer and head athletic trainer with Pickerington Central, spent some time with the team. She was also in her office preparing for the team’s first game which is this Friday.

“It is definitely a lot of preparing. It’s a lot of looking and reflecting on the year before. And going through your emergency action plans, your standing operating procedures, and reviewing them,” Powell said.

OhioHealth has more than 180 athletic trainers across 90 schools. Powell has been at Pickerington Central for eight years. She said some of the work leading up to the season also includes reviewing medical records and going over plans with all those involved on game days.

“Making sure everybody in this building knows what to do, the coaches to the event managers to the staff,” Powell said. “Certain games it’s hey you know your job is if we have to call a squad your job is to open that gate so EMS can get on the field.”

The Damar Hamlin situation last NFL season put a bigger focus on medical specialists who work games.

“I’ve read about that in textbooks since I was in medical school. We know what we need to do in that situation, so we have always been prepared for it. Hope I never have to use it, but we are prepared,” said Dr. Monique Brady, a Sports Medicine Physician at OhioHealth.

She is the team doctor for Pickerington Central and said they plan for all kinds of what if scenarios.

“There are always the cardiac considerations, I think that has been more in the spotlight since last year,” Brady said. We’ve always been prepared for it but now we absolutely verbalize how prepared we are.”