Hi from Whistler.

It has been busy. Things in the Whistler polyclinic are chugging along. As with the Olympics we are seeing a lot of athletes from smaller countries such as Bulgaria and Kazakstan etc. Though this time around we have had quite a few Canadian athletes.

The real story of these Games is the athletes and their stories. From people who had an accident doing an extreme sport, those from Eastern Block countries injured by bombs and grenades, western world soldiers injured in battle overseas, to those born with their disability. They all have very different backgrounds, but have had the courage to ‘Soldier On’ through sport. For many sport is what has made the difference in their lives and help

The vibe is definitely different from the Olympics, but just as special. I was impressed with the crowds at the x-country and alpine events. Incredibly enthusiastic, lots of school groups. The kids were lined up to get autographs from athletes from all countries! We are lucky to have access to everything with our accreditation so being able to see these guys compete live has really helped to bring it full circle for me. You can’t help but be inspired by watching how hard they compete. The visually impaired skiiers on the downhill course are incredible, they fly!!

I got to watch Brian McKeevor win a gold medal live and then meet him in the clinic when he saw a colleague! That was pretty cool. Overall I have seen Canada win 3 gold medals!

Once again, like the Olympics, working with all the huge variety of disciplines in the Polyclinic as one equal team has been amazing. The exchange of ideas is pretty cool!

Cheers, Shandia
(sent from my Blackberry)

Shandia Cordingley is physio from Penticton, BC. She is volunteering at the Polyclinic in Whistler for both the Olympics and Paralympic Games

The second wave of the Games is underway and many of our PABC members are involved as they were in the Olympic Games. Here are a few unusual spots you’ll find them over these weeks.

We had two Paralympic torch bearers leading up to the Opening Ceremonies. John Cumberbirch of Surrey was selected to represent Sportability – CP Sports, in recognition of John devoting his career enriching the lives of children with special needs, in both his role as a dedicated and caring pediatric physiotherapist and his many hours spent as an International Classifier for CP Sports. And Louise Burton was “beyond excited” to be carrying the Paralympic torch during the 24 hour relay portion of the relay. Her application to “You Gotta Be Here” won her the spot. Now retired from Vernon Jubilee Hospital after 35 years, Louise is undertaking that all important role of retired physios – vacation relief for her colleagues!

Sharon Clarke is a Cross Country Canada Official Level 3- involved in Nordic sports; at the Paralympics she will be a member of the Timing team for XC skiing. During the Olympics, she was in Falun, Sweden as a Jury member for the Masters World Cup (MWC) in Cross Country Skiing.

Marilyn Atkinson is “very excited” to be working as a wax technician for the Chinese Paralympic cross country ski team, assisting her friend the wax coach for the team. Says Marilyn, “I have official credentials and everything!” Working part-time at Courtenay Physiotherapy, she has a few hours to devote to her Level 2 cross country ski coaching of a developmental program for 10-13 year olds of Strathcona Nordics Ski Club on Mt Washington, as well as competing in a few races a year as she has done since the 1960′s.

Barbara Picton is continuing her Olympic stint at the Athlete’s village into the Paralympics. She is in admin helping with logistics, but also covers the front end when more people are required. Some of the jobs have included hours breaking down cardboard boxes in the depths of an underground parking lot, completing inventory lists in the athlete’s rooms, welcoming athletes into the village and hauling luggage through the security checks, COC members to their meeting rooms, hauling cedar trees in tubs to pretty up the place, sponsors and partners around the Village, and issuing guest passes, “for which we had 1½ hours training from the RCMP in how to match people to passport photos – I now have a great respect for why they won’t allow us to smile anymore as it really does change the shape of the face.”

Alison Hoens provided training on the use of electrotherapeutic agents, and is an On Call specialist, “called when my area of expertise is required and/or helping out in the medical clinic in the Vancouver Village whenever I can.”

Local volunteers are the backbone of the Olympics and Kelowna’s Randy Goodman has certainly played a central roll.

Goodman is charge of  leading therapy services at the “best polyclinic in Olympic games history” says a recent article in the Kelowna Capital News.

The 10,000 square-foot multi-specialty, state of the art medical clinic has everything from physiotherapy to massage to chiropractic, acupuncture, bracing and orthotics. Goodman is in charge of a team of physios (many PABC members )  who were treating mostly athletes from outside of Canada,  some of whom wouldn’t have been able to compete without the services at the polyclinic,  he says in the article. While many of the larger teams brought their own physios, most relied on the services provided by Goodman’s team.

A story in the Vancouver Sun also featured the world class facility in a February 15th article.

Goodman applied for the position to run the polyclinic three years ago and began preparations for the Olympics two years ago.

Kudos to Goodman and his team!

Read the full article.

Duane strikes a pose

As pointed out earlier (by Timberly George), working as part of the Athlete Care Medical Staff at the Olympic Oval isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds.  Thankfully we have been very lucky and have had fairly healthy athletes with very minor incidences at the oval thus far (knock on wood), which has at times left us with not much to do.  On the up side, I have gotten to meet some of the Canadian speed skaters while attending to minor cuts (for which we had to fill out numerous forms), we get to watch the athletes train (which always amazes me and has given me other great ways to torture my clients back at the clinic), and we have the best seats in the house for all the gold medal events at the oval.

It is also great to get a behind the scenes look at the Olympics.  I am in awe of the amount of work and planning that has gone into them.  I was surprised when I first saw the medical room set up at the Oval… then I checked out the polyclinic at the athlete’s village, which just took it to another level.  A big tip of my hat to all the organizers, medical and otherwise.

The best part of the Olympics for me is the spirit and the energy they have brought to Vancouver.  I have never heard such a deafening roar from a crowd as I have sitting in the Oval when the Canadians are racing.  The sound on the TV does it no justice.  That same spirit extends beyond the confines of the venues.  Rushing home from the Oval to catch the end of the Canada vs. USA hockey game last Saturday, I gave the latest score of the game (down 2-1) to a fellow skytrain rider.  Moments later a voice beside me (who overheard our conversation and had to check his phone for an up to date score) yells out “Canada scored, 2-2”….  The whole train erupted in a cheer!

Is my job at the Oval glamorous? Of course not.  All physiotherapists working with sports know that we are the ones behind the curtain ensuring our athletes are at their peak so that they can shine.  So far I have been present for Kristina Groves winning her silver and bronze medals, but unfortunately was not there to see Christine Nesbitt achieve her gold.  I have two more opportunities (men’s and women’s pursuits) to get a front row seat to Canada winning a gold.

GO CANADA GO.

Duane with friends

Posted by Duane Brousmiche Physiotherapist, volunteer at Richmond Oval

Sometimes the parts of an Olympic games you will remember and fondly reflect on are not obvious or predictable.

Last night, Randy Goodman (Sport Physio, and Athlete Village Polyclinic Manager) dropped by the Canada Hockey Place (CHP) Therapy Room to check how we were doing with regards to staff and supplies. He has done such a great job helping us fill gaps on very short notice, at times walking over from the polyclinic himself to deliver therapy supplies. After touching base and arranging to restock our tape supplies, I was able to take Randy on a tour of our facility.

Our clinic is in fact the Vancouver Canucks medical-therapy clinic, dynamically located between the Team Canada and Team Russia dressing rooms. It is not a temporary facility set up in a locker room or conference room like many of the venue clinics.

We have a trauma bay set up on one half of the room, and a therapy bay on the other half. Our therapy area includes a complete selection of tape and associated bandages as well as a full spectrum of rehabilitation electrophysical agents.  We have an IIHF recommended selection of prescription and over the counter medication, creams, ointments, decongestants etc. and have been able to help out the visiting NOC teams with our supplies.

We are a popular spot with international colleagues who love our tape! Swedish physio stopped by 3 different times to borrow tape our tape for his athletes.  The athletes are very particular about what tape they use. The hockey player from Ottawa wants a slightly different product or brand than the player from Philadelphia and that of course is different than the tape used by his Detroit and NYR players.  The tape used in Europe is not quite the same as that used in North America, and most of the Swedish team members play in the North American based NHL.

Our clinic is extremely busy.  To cover Athlete Care, at each game we have 2 Physicians, 1 Therapist, 1 Medical Supervisor, a Paramedic Commander, a pair of ALS Paramedics, a Dentist, a Radiology Tech, and a Diagnostic Ultra Sound Tech.   In most cases one physician is an orthopedic surgeon and one is a primary care sports medicine physician.  We communicate on a dedicated medical radio channel.

We are also responsible for Spectator Care at CHP, which involves 1 Physician, 2 Nurses and 6 First Responders and a team of Paramedics.

As well, we cover practices at Britannia Ice Arena with 1 Physician, 1 Therapist and a Medical Supervisor.  The game day skates and team practices for men’s hockey are all at Britannia.  CHP ice is challenged with the 3 games a day, so no practices are held at the competition facility.

Ron Mattison, Sport Physiotherapist

Carol with Rick Celebrini & Diane Lee (flanked by polyclinic staff)

PABC asked Carol Kennedy, renowned Canadian expert on the cervical spine (also one of the 7 stars of the new CPA TV ad), about her Olympic experience so far.

“Over a year ago I had a call from Rick Celebrini asking if I could be talked into being involved with the Olympics. Probably! But as my years of formal involvement with teams (I was a team physio for junior football, junior hockey and senior men’s basketball in another life) were early in my 31 year career as a physio, I wasn’t sure what I had to offer.

Along with each Olympics there is a medical symposium that is attended by the various personnel that are here supporting their teams medically. The topic for the Vancouver Olympics just happened to be head and neck injury and so I guess Rick thought I might have something to say about that. So one week from today I will present ‘Could the Cervical Spine Contribute to Post-concussion Symptoms?‘ to an international audience of physios, docs, chiros, massage therapists… Realizing that English will be a second language for many of the participants, I am still trying to condense the available evidence for that first talk into the allotted 15 minutes! The following day I will use a case history format to present ‘Assessment & Management of the Cervical Spine Contribution to Post-Concussion Symptoms’. This second workshop is a group effort and I have enjoyed collaborating with a physio from Norway as well as local medical specialists on that project.

Rick then came back with an idea of having ‘on-call specialists’ available if needed and so I am waiting to see if the need for cervical spine expertise arises. Randy Goodman, who is the site director for the Polyclinic in the Vancouver Athlete’s Village, extended an invitation to come down to the clinic at any time, and so rather than wait to be called, I headed over there to spend the day with Diane Lee, another ‘on-call specialist’, along with Allison Ezzat and Chris May who were manning the fort that day. It was an amazing experience to walk into the Village and see the flags of the various countries hanging from the balconies of the athlete accommodations, and athletes from all around the world wandering around and relaxing between events. The Polyclinic is a hive of activity. We should be proud of what our Canadian organizers have put together as a state of the art facility. The collaboration among professions is done with mutual respect as we spent time comparing the similarities and differences in treatment approaches.

Then I headed to the Coliseum to sit in the stands as a spectator for Men’s Figure Skating, cheering on Patrick Chan. I feel privileged to be able to experience this Olympics from several different perspectives.”

Carol Kennedy, Physiotherapist, BScPT, FCAMT

I walked along the river dyke on River Road on my way to the Oval this morning, it was a gorgeous morning.  I couldn’t help but think that there was one thing that would make it a perfect day…and sure enough, it happened. A gold medal today in the women’s 1000m race by Christine Nesbitt.  What a feeling to be standing in the middle of an arena filled to the brim with fans dressed in red, waving their Canadian flags, and cheering at the top of their lungs.

posted by Timberly George, Sport Physio BC, Volunteer at the Richmond Oval

A gold for Canada! As I sat down to write this, I turned on the TV and there he was! Alex Bilodeau winning the first ever Canadian gold medal on our home turf up at Cypress mountain.  Wow!  The energy up there looked so incredible!  I can’t wait to hear the stories first hand from those on the mountain today!

At the Richmond Olympic Oval today, we had 3 Canadians in the Women’s 3000m race – Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes, and Kristina Groves.  Each of them raced their hearts out.  Yesterday, it was a sea of orange in the stands as the Dutch national superhero, Sven Kramer, raced for the gold in the men’s 5000m.  Today, red was definitely the dominant colour.  The crowd was wild!  I’m so proud of all the women who raced today.  I’m sure my heart wasn’t pumping exactly as hard as theirs were while they raced, but it sure felt like it!!

I keep thinking my days are over when I leave the Oval each day. Yet daily, something happens “outside the fence”  reminding me that my day isn’t over until my blue jacket has been removed.  Sometimes I forget that I’m still in my uniform. Today, after getting off the train in Yaletown, I was stuck in a crowd of people at the corner of Davie and Mainland. As  I pushed through the crowd, a hand reached out towards me, in a gesture of handshaking. I looked up and there was Gordon Campbell, shaking my hand and saying “thanks, thanks for being a part of this”.  I briefly wondered what he was talking about….and then I remembered I was still in uniform.  Another great day in blue.

Timberly, posing in the Richmond Olympic Oval

Timberly George, Sport Physiotherapist

Chair, Sport Physio BC

Chilliwack’s Fraser Valley Physio and Rehab Clinic’s Vedder Road head physio Peter DeVette is part of the Olympics anti-doping team. Here is his story:

I became a Doping Control Officer (DCO) for the 2010 Olympics about 2.5 or 3 years ago after responding to an email which circulated the physio community.

In Canada the doping control is conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), for each country anti-doping is superseded by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).

The principle behind the current doping control policy is that athletes are subject to testing at any time, any place. This position is strongly supported by Canadian athletes as most, if not all, are in favour of doping-free sports.

For the Olympics 2010 doping control is conducted by the IOC (on Olympic venues) and WADA (outside of Olympic venues). There is pre-competition and in-competition testing; currently we are in pre-competition phase. This requires some detective work on a daily basis to find athletes whom have been selected for testing, as the athletes can be in many different locations and accurate ‘whereabouts’ info is not always communicated by each of the countries chef de mission. Practically this means that as DCO’s we can go wherever athletes go, except for the field of play.

Once an athlete has been properly notified, they are chaperoned to the Doping Control Station, where a highly standardized collection process for urine and/or blood is conducted. Once the sample has been collected, it is forwarded to a WADA accredited lab for testing at the Richmond Oval (this was just on the news). DCO’s do not test the samples; they assure the collection process is conducted equally and fairly for all tested athletes. Consequences are in place for athletes whom try to cheat or do not adhere to the collection process.

To date my involvement has been very interesting; I get to circulate in the Olympic Village, the athletes that I have been asked to locate for testing I actually get to meet personally. Whom and where is obviously confidential; what I can say is that I have interacted with certain previous and likely 2010 medalists (including Canadians!!). I’ll be in Vancouver for the month of February, right to the final day/closing ceremony. Once competition starts I will continue my DCO volunteer job at the Village in Vancouver,

Olympic Village

at Cypress Mountain and at UBC Thunderbird Stadium for sure, yet might also end up at other venues as required.

There are over 120 DCO’s involved in these games. Some are PT’s from outside BC and outside of Canada, including Ontario and a country like the Island of Antigua. The estimated amount of tests conducted for 2010 is projected to be greater than 2000; a new record for an Olympic event!

Peter Devette, Physiotherapist and DCO

My Olympic experience leading up to the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow night has been awesome – even more exciting and eventful than I anticipated! Here are some highlights from the last few days!

• Getting a little Modalities refresher course and meeting the other Host Therapists from our Vancouver venues.

• Watching the Official Opening of the Athlete’s Village, especially the ribbon cutting where the volunteer was so cute you’d have thought he’d won his own gold medal!

• Greeting the Athletes as they arrive, and seeing their positive impressions of our treatment area, gym, and recovery/regeneration area.

• Working side-by-side and learning from a group of world class Physios, Massage Therapists, Chiropractors, and Sports Medicine Doctors.

• Being inspired and amazed by all the athletes we have met and treated in our Therapy area! Everywhere from Denmark to China to Ukraine, they are all so energized, motivated, and ready to compete.

• Seeing the Welcome Ceremony for our Canadian Athletes which featured Sandra Oh from Grey’s Anatomy as MC; the Village Mayors, Rick Hansen and Trisha Smith; some rad international drumming, and of course our National Anthem plus lots of cheering and dancing!

• Learning an Aussie manip technique from a therapist with the Australian Snowboard Team.

• Meeting a translator in the lunch line who has been to 11 Olympics and speaks 15 different languages!

• Traveling up the top floor of the Athlete Residences’ and enjoying the rooftop gardens and 3 million dollar view from the penthouse.

• Experiencing the excitement and energy of the torch relay running through throngs of crowds at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver at 8:25am on Wednesday morning complete with a rock band!

by Allison Ezzat (Mackay)