Norton Healthcare worker helping Central football stay healthy

On a typical weekday, you can find Erin Gish in a white coat in a Norton doctor’s office, but on Friday nights, you’ll find her on the football field.Gish is on the sideline for Central High School football, helping with sports medicine, which is where she got her start. She jumped at the opportunity when Norton Healthcare and Jefferson County Public Schools announced their partnership.”I work in the clinic over at Norton Orthopedic Institute. Being able to help on the field, gives me a chance to maintain my sports medicine,” Gish said. “I love working with the kids. It keeps me young, and they’re fun. And you get involved with the team. And here at Central, they’re really a family.”Kristen Pollock is Central’s head athletic trainer, and she and Gish spend their time pregame making sure the players are ready to play. But it’s during the game that Gish’s experience comes into play.”We try to stay close to the line of scrimmage so we can see every play, every hit that’s happening. Make sure every kid gets back up,” Gish said.Gish says while every injury is taken seriously, having an expert on the field gives and extra layer of protection for players.”It’s a great relationship because we have the ability to get our athletes seen right away, get them treated urgently and sometimes bypassing the emergency room where they don’t need to go to the emergency room,” Gish said.Whatever the injury is, Gish says she’s ready to help fix it for the past 16 years and hopes to do it for another 16.

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