The health and safety of the student-athlete is an inherent part of any good collegiate athletics program. From the smallest college to the largest university, administrators always have grappled with the best way to safeguard their athletes while remaining accountable to everyone from students and parents to regents and budget planners.

It's not always an easy job. But it's a crucial one.

In recent years, the NCAA has initiated several guidelines to help chart the course of sports safety at member institutions. Issues such as a written, established emergency-care plan; CPR and first-aid training for coaches; and equitable, adequate coverage for all sports have become key points for administrators to address.

Suddenly, athletics directors are re-evaluating things many had taken for granted: What exactly happens when injury strikes? Does the sports medicine staff have the necessary resources to ensure the highest level of safety? Are all parties -- the administration, coaches, sports medicine staff and athletes -- communicating well and effectively?

These can be murky waters made even muddier by current changes in sports medicine. For example, the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) is reforming its educational process, eliminating the internship route to certification and requiring that student athletic trainers achieve certification through a structured athletic training educational curriculum. These changes are needed and commendable, as they will ultimately improve the quality of athletic trainers and the quality of care our student-athletes receive.

However, it will require those institutions without an athletic training curriculum to rethink their student athletic trainer program as well as their overall sports medicine program. Training coaches in CPR and first aid requires additional time and effort on the part of the coaches with their already busy schedules. Finding ways to increase sports medicine staff to provide adequate coverage may require careful consideration and creative solutions. A spirit of cooperation and communication among all parties is important as all of our institutions study

sports safety. After all, the common goal -- indeed, the No. 1 objective -- is and should be the safety of the student-athletes in our programs.

Consider this: Sport today involves more intense competition, longer seasons and off-season workouts. There has been a rapid and significant increase in student-athlete participation. The 1987-1998 NCAA participation study showed a 20.8 percent total increase in NCAA-sponsored sports and a 34.2 percent increase in females participating.

There has been great expansion as well in institutional-sponsored activities, with the nontraditional season, skill instruction and increased emphasis on year-round strength and conditioning. The result is increased exposures and incidence of athletically related injuries. Add to that the profile of today's college athlete: bigger, stronger and faster, with many more years of experience as youth are becoming involved in organized sports at a younger age. This makes it doubly important for all athletics directors to become involved and take ownership of sports-safety issues now.

Unfortunately, some current medical practices may be unacceptable. A 1999 NCAA survey found inadequate emergency medical coverage at many institutions. Member schools may not have sufficient personnel in place to provide adequate care.

It falls to the athletics director to initiate a review of athletics health-care procedures. The NATA in 1998 created the Task Force to Establish Appropriate Medical Coverage for Intercollegiate Athletics. This task force has worked with certified athletic trainers from NCAA Divisions I, II, III, NAIA and junior colleges, as well as representatives from the NATA College and University Athletic Trainers' Committee, College Athletic Trainers Society, and the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

The task force recommendations, soon to be released, will serve as a tool to allow athletics departments to objectively review their sports medicine programs. It then falls to the athletics director to set the tone for implementing any resulting changes. Positive, open communication can be our strongest ally in such times.

Some may ask why health care should be an issue at all. The answer is both simple and direct: Student-athletes who participate in sports for our university are our responsibility. Not only is sports safety a key ethical consideration, it also can have legal implications. From medical, ethical and legal standpoints, prudent universities will do all they can to safeguard their student-athletes.

Vincent J. Dooley is the director of athletics at the University of Georgia.