Salt Lake City held the Winter Olympics back in 2002, and now, they are giving Vancouver information on how much money they’ll likely need for medical supplies and support. As reported by vancouversun.com, medical attention is top priority for 2010, and Vancouver is ready to go above and beyond. Read More…
Up to 250,000 people from around the world will descend on Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Olympics. And to get an idea of how many might need medical attention, we can look south, to Utah.
Salt Lake City held the last winter games on North American soil in 2002, so the Vancouver Organizing Committee (Vanoc) can be guided by that city’s experience.
In 2002, 11,575 medical cases were handled, but athletes accounted for only 1,377 of those cases treated at 35 temporary venue clinics, other Olympic sites and some Salt Lake City hospitals, where Olympic-related visitors went. Spectators, officials, media, contractors, venue volunteers and staff were the ones mostly in need of medical attention.
Only 48 people required hospital admission over the one month period.
“Patients [were] admitted for things like broken bones, heart attacks and severe illness. There were no deaths,” said Daron Cowley, spokesman for Intermountain Healthcare, a nonprofit organization in Utah that was the official supplier of medical care for the 2002 games.
“Emergency rooms were not affected in a noticeable way — the venue clinics handled nearly all the patient volume,” he added.
In Utah, the highest volume of patients was at the clinic in the Athlete Village, with 2,080 cases, followed by the Main Media Center, with 1,995. Mobile medical teams, which circulated among crowds at venues and celebration sites, treated 1,914 cases. The Park City Mountain Resort, venue for several skiing and snowboard events, saw only 162 patient visits.
Of the 11,575 medical cases treated during the 2002 Winter Olympics, there were 16 cases of frostbite and 43 cases of altitude sickness. Cowley, director of communications for Intermountain Healthcare, said the frostbite and altitude sickness cases affected spectators who arrived early at alpine events and climbed up the mountains to secure good positions for watching events. “They would sweat and then get chilled. And then you had people who were not accustomed to the elevation on the mountains.”
The Paralympic Games resulted in another 1,013 visits to medical centres, including on-site venue clinics or hospitals throughout the region. At both the Olympic games and Paralympics, the most common types of medical issues were relatively minor and included respiratory infections, sprains and strains, cuts and scrapes.
Cowley acknowledged there were cynics who thought the games might compromise health care services of the population at large by diverting precious resources. Vancouver General Hospital (part of Vancouver Coastal Health) is the dedicated Olympic Family Hospital and St. Paul’s Hospital (also part of VCH) is the dedicated Olympic spectator hospital. VCH has announced a 35-per-cent reduction in the number of elective surgeries during the one-month period of the Games. Fraser Health region has also announced a similar reduction.
Cowley said Intermountain also reduced the number of scheduled operations in its Utah hospitals by the same amount to accommodate health providers who were working at the games or taking time off during that period. “We also found that patients were not interested in scheduling their cases during the Olympic period, so it worked out all around.”
While elective procedures for local residents decreased during the 2002 Games, for all other types of medical care (emergency and urgent) Cowley said volumes were normal.
When the Games ended, the tally for medical services was $8 million, an amount that was far lower than the actual cost since so many medical supplies were donated and services volunteered. Vanoc estimates $5 million in medical equipment/supplies have been donated for Games use.
In its bid book in 2002, Vanoc showed a projected medical services budget of about $5 million. Vanoc now says it does not have a specific budget for medical services.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have an exact breakdown,” said Vanoc chief medical officer Dr. Jack Taunton. “Our medical services budget falls within our Sport and Games Operations budget. Vanoc’s total budget for Sport and Games Operations is $247 million.”
Medical services must be provided to about 7,000 athletes, coaches and team officials, 10,000 members of the media, 50,000 Olympics workers and thousands of spectators. Yet Vancouver organizers say it’s also hard to predict the number of people who might need medical attention. “. . . the data from past Games tells us our medical team could anticipate a few thousand medical encounters. A medical encounter could be anything from a request for a Band-Aid, to a cold/flu, to a serious injury,” said Taunton.
About 1,200 medical volunteers (similar to Salt Lake) and 15 full-time paid medical services staff will work during the 2010 Games. That does not include an equal number of allied health professionals (nurses, lab technicians, chiropractors and physiotherapists).
Each athletes’ village (Vancouver and Whistler) will have a 10,000-square-foot polyclinic. There will also be medical stations at other 2010-related venues including one at the airport, one for each media centre in Vancouver and Whistler, one at BC Place, and another at the Whistler Celebration Plaza. As well, each 2010 competition venue will have a medical station for both spectators and athletes.
