Physios urged to ‘get involved’ in 2012
According to LOGOC, there will be three Olympic and Paralympic villages and five sites for the football venues. The 26 sports will compete in 34 venues at the Olympics and 21 venues at the Paralympics. There will be 10,500 athletes at the Olympic Games and 4,200 athletes at the Paralympic Games, coming from 205 and 147 countries respectively. The Olympic Games last for 17 days and the Paralympic Games for 11 days, with each Games having a two-week build-up prior to the opening ceremony when medical services have to be provided. That is over two months in total. LOGOC is inviting volunteers from medical and physical therapy disciplines to help treat the athletes.
Physical therapy services
The physical therapy to be provided at the Games encompasses chiropractic, osteopathy, physiotherapy and sports massage.
The Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine is inviting its members to ‘get involved’.
It quotes LOGOC as saying: “A physical therapy service will be provided at the main polyclinic in the Olympic Village (in East London), at the smaller polyclinics at Royal Holloway (rowing and canoeing) and Weymouth (sailing), as well as at all the competition venues and some training venues. Working within their scope of practice, physiotherapists will use their knowledge, skills and experience to assess, treat and rehabilitate. Although the prime aim is to safely return athletes to the field of play as quickly as possible, it is essential that physiotherapy volunteers are aware of the importance of working within an interdisciplinary team and use referrals to other disciplines when necessary.”
At competition and training venues the physiotherapists will provide sport-specific expertise in support of doctors and physiotherapists with the individual national teams and the field of play medical teams. Depending on the sport and venue, they may be based in the Athlete Medical Centre or on the field of play itself.
At the polyclinics the physiotherapists will have particular responsibility to see athletes who do not have their own national team medical staff and will work closely with other medical professionals, including chiropractors, osteopaths, sports massage practitioners, sports medicine doctors, radiologists, and podiatrists. They will also provide back up advice and support for national team medical staff.
As reported in the last issue of Your Witness, sports medicine is now recognised as a discipline in its own right and London 2012 will act as the perfect showcase for the expertise available in this country.