How prepared are we for the Rugby World Cup? The third largest sporting event in the world is expected to bring 85,000 international visitors to New Zealand. No doubt some of those visitors will require some kind of health services during their stay. An event of this magnitude may present a massive influx of patients to many of our hospitals, and quality standards must be maintained.
The head of Medical Services for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Dr Richard Budgett says statistics from other large events show that the use of emergency medicine departments is usually less during the event due to the services provided on site, and any burden on the department is unlikely to be significant. (Emergency Medicine Journal). There are already callouts for 600 volunteer doctors as well as many other medical sector posts ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Indeed a review of the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta found that although they did see slightly higher numbers of patients presenting with unintentional injuries and heat-related illness, none of the eight hospitals had a significant increase in emergency department cases during the event. However officials did admit the efficiency and accuracy of their emergency room coordination system could have been improved by computerised, real-time monitoring of bed status.
The Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) authority was not going to take any chances in preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver-Whistler. Their implementation of Capplan enabled VCH to forecast bed utilisation, and to adjust elective surgeries accordingly, so that any emergencies that did occur during those critical two weeks of the games could be accommodated. They were also proactive in getting information out to the community, issuing press releases before the games urging tourists to obtain health insurance before travel to Canada, explaining how the health care system works and that health care is not free in the country. VCH also posted news updates regularly announcing the safety of tap water, tips for crowd safety and even what to do in an earthquake – something definitely worth consideration for New Zealand.
Alan Spinks Clinical Advisor, Emendo