'We ended up improving the rates of training-related injuries from one in six to one in 50 recruits being injured,' says health supervisor
“We notice an upward trend in training-related injuries,” recalls Eric Donaldson, Biological Health Supervisor for York Regional Police. In the summer of 2023, Donaldson’s health and safety unit approaches him with a challenge: too many recruits are getting hurt during training, and many of these injuries appear preventable.
Donaldson, who brings experience from both high-performance sport and injury rehabilitation, immediately investigates. “The first thing we need to do is really understand the data a little bit better,” he explains. He sits down with the health and safety unit to break down injury records. Are these injuries contact-related or non-contact? Do they truly occur during training, or are they misattributed? This data-driven approach leads to a full audit of the physical training curriculum.
Building a better curriculum
Through this audit, Donaldson discovers a lack of standardization and documentation. “There wasn’t a good, standardized curriculum being offered,” he says. “There was no consistency. There was lack of documentation. So it really wasn’t a way to track how and when we were delivering what type of training and what those workouts look like.” Recognizing the opportunity, Donaldson and his team decide to redesign the entire curriculum from the ground up, launching the new program with the fall 2023 recruit intake.
The new curriculum emphasizes standardized lesson plans, clear training goals, and a person-centered approach. “We make it very person-centered, where we get to know the recruits, what their training background is, what their medical history is, and then we’re able to tailor a program that’s specific to their needs as well as specific to the job itself,” Donaldson explains. This approach allows the team to identify recruits who may be predisposed to injury and proactively address potential issues.
Measurable results
“In 2022, we were averaging about one in six recruits being injured from a training-related injury,” Donaldson reports. “In 2024, after a full year’s worth of this training and also our recruit numbers increased by 176%, we ended up improving the rates of injury, of training-related injuries from one in six to one in 50 recruits being injured.” The program achieves a 55% reduction in all-cause injury rates and an impressive 72% drop in non-contact injuries.
Donaldson attributes this success to the inclusion of a clinical exercise physiologist and a critical focus on injury prevention. “The inclusion of a clinical exercise physiologist into this program led to a change from one in six recruits being injured to one in 50, because we have this critical eye for injury prevention and training,” he says.
Feedback from recruits reinforces the program’s impact. “They felt that they were better prepared to take on any physical challenge that they felt that they might experience when they get out onto the road, and also, they had a better understanding of how to train for a career in law enforcement,” Donaldson notes.
Lessons for other services
For other police services and first responder organizations, Donaldson offers clear advice: “Invest in a formal physical training unit or some sort of biological wellness unit, where you’re putting people that are experts in injury prevention in a place where they’re actually able to have a meaningful change in impact to the service.” He points to similar results at Edmonton Police Service, where injury rates fell from one in five to one in 50 after implementing comparable programming.
For individual first responders, Donaldson emphasizes self-awareness and balance. “When we train, we love to do the things we’re really good at. We tend to avoid the things we don’t enjoy, the things we’re not good at. But what we know from the literature oftentimes that avoidance-based behavior...ends up leading to that injury,” he says.
Model for prevention
York Regional Police’s experience demonstrates that with the right expertise, resources, and commitment to evidence-based practice, police services can dramatically reduce injuries and better prepare recruits for the demands of the job. “You’re going to be very surprised at the type of changes that you see,” Donaldson concludes.
