WORCESTER, Mass. — Spearheaded by Dr. Lee Mancini, the head of sports medicine at UMass Memorial in Worcester, doctors from the sports medicine department along with trainers from local colleges and high school's met at the Buffone Rink in Worcester to practice scenarios where a hockey player has a spinal injury or laceration and every second counts. 

The groups meet a couple times a year to share strategies and practices that could save an athlete's life. The training happens at fields where they focus on football or soccer or lacrosse injuries as well as the ice, like they were doing on Thursday.

It's a huge benefit for everyone.

"The more that you practice and the more that you rehearse, the more that you've trained your body to respond in the event of an emergency or stressful situation," said Krystle Robleski, the director of sports performance at Assumption University. "So when your body knows what to do and your mind might be moving a lot slower than you think your body is as we try to process some really intense information. The more that you get a chance to rehearse that, the more that your body can just go through the process and be able to respond appropriately and effectively in the event of an emergency." 

"It's important because similar to athletes, athletic trainers rely on practice," said Sharona Mallach, associate athletic trainer and senior women's administrator, Anna Maria College. "And the better you practice, the better you're going to perform under pressure. I personally had an experience with an athlete a couple years back who had a hockey skate cut through an artery. And I think it's important that I share my experience with other athletic trainers in the area."

The group first did classroom training and then did on-ice training with actual hockey players.