Well, it’s been a busy few days! I’ve now worked 3 shifts in the Polyclinic, then medical clinic within the athlete’s village. The village itself is another topic altogether, which I will write about soon…. for now, I will just say that I have to go through several security checks to get in each day.
The Polyclinic is designed to provide comprehensive medical care for all the Olympic athletes and Olympic family (coaches, staff, chef de missions, etc.) This clinic has full medical facilities, including a trauma room and mini operating room, which is to be used in case of a major emergency. Our main job in Whistler is to “pack and send” major traumas for definitive care in Vancouver, 75 miles away, but occasionally the helicopters can’t fly (due to bad weather) and the 90min drive will take too long for a very injured patient. Thus, we have capabilities for life-saving surgery if necessary.
I am doing sports medicine in the clinic, seeing injured knees, backs, shoulders, etc. An emergency doctor is also working, seeing all other types of problems (allergic reactions, illness, and other problems.) We have trauma and orthopedic surgeons on call and here when needed, as well as radiologist to read the imaging studies being done all day long. We have Xray, ultrasound, mri and ct scans on site – which are busy! We also have a stocked pharmacy and give out appropriate medication (always making sure it is not on the banned substances list for the athletes.) We have a lab on site which can do and analyze most blood work, and casting facilities. The biggest hit of the clinic is the dental and eye care provided to the athletes. One of the perks of making the Olympics team, besides competing, is living in the athlete’s village, and getting all this great care. Many of the athletes from Eastern Europe and Africa don’t have access to good dental care at home, so they really appreciate having this service. The athletes can come in for teeth cleaning, and any other dental work needed, from crowns to root canals. We also have an opthamologist on site, who is seeing athletes for eye care and dispensing eye glasses. The dental and eye care are booked out for at least a week!
We also have a therapy department, fully stocked with all treatment modalities including shock wave treatment (used to treat tendonopathies.) We have 2-3 physiotherapists, a chiropractor, accupuncturist and 2 or 3 massage therapists working on athletes all day long. The clinic is a very busy place – especially in the late afternoons after the events finish. I believe we are seeing at least 150 visits per day. I work 8 hour shifts, 7am- 3pm or 3pm-11pm. We are keeping track of all the visits and injuries with an electronic records system, which the IOC injury commission will use later to study injury patterns at the games. When it’s quiet (rarely, but sometimes, the athletes are just coming in for pre-booked appointments with the dentist or therapists), we watch the events on the amazing HD tv’s scattered throughout, or go to IOC organized medical talks (eg, concussion management) broadcast by teleconference from Vancouver.
That’s it for now I work early tomorrow morning. More to come on life in the athlete’s village….