A hospital bed in a ward unit for Olympic athletes in the international medical department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital is seen in this picture June 25, 2008. Inside decoration is still in progress.[chinadaily.com.cn] |
The living room of a ward unit for Olympic athletes in the international medical department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital is seen in this picture June 25, 2008. Inside decoration is still in progress.[chinadaily.com.cn] |
China doesn’t have any experience hosting the Games, since this will be our first Games. Although we have a good medical team and facilities, have you practiced any drills to test your preparations?
Actually the Olympic medical staff has worked for all the Olympic test events starting from this time last year. We were on standby everywhere the events were held around the city and through the field work we tested our preparations and found problems we have now corrected.
The Olympic track and field test event in late May was an important drill for our hospital. Unlike the marathon and walking test event in April, athletes and spectators gathered in the stadium and that provided us a true test. We treated 360 patients at the venue during the four days. But there are some scenarios that we haven’t experienced. For example, there were fewer athletes and spectators and the competitions were not as fierce as those during the real Games when we will have many more patients. Also the climate will be different in August…
After the Wenchuan earthquake, do you have any emergency response mechanism set up to ensure immediate medical help for a large number of people in an emergency situation?
All the related departments of the city are preparing to deal with potential threats during the Games. We medical institutions are getting training from the Municipal Health Bureau on dealing with terrorist attacks, including nuclear and bioterrorist attacks. There were such drills in the Olympic venues before each of the test events during the past year. In our hospital, we have security facilities to protect the wards from such possible attacks.
Can you tell us how you treat an athlete? Since they have their own team of doctors, how will you cooperate with them?
There are two ways of looking after patients who are athletes. The general clinic in the Olympic Village will be responsible for those who don’t need hospitalization. Our hospital will hospitalize athletes if necessary. But before any treatment, we will consult with their team doctors and themselves and respect their decisions.
What would be most common medical issue for the athletes? Are sports injuries the main part?
Yes, sports injuries are the majority. Others illnesses might include intestinal disorders and sunstroke since the Games will be in August. I predict athletes will be a small number of our patients because they are in good physical condition. During the four-day athletics test event in the Bird’s Nest in May, we had 360 patients in all and more than 80 percent of them were spectators, volunteers and other venue workers.
