DOCTORS ON THE ALPINE SKI SLOPES AT THE BEIJING OLYMPICS
At the Beijing Olympics, downhill skiing takes place at the Yanqing site, 80 km north of the Chinese capital. In case of an accident, everything is provided to help the athletes on the tracks in less than 4 minutes. An extremely prepared team Originally, they were all doctors and ski enthusiasts. The idea to create this team began in 2018 with a call for volunteers at a dozen hospitals in the Beijing region. Emergency volunteers with minimum amateur skiing experience were requested. The training began in 2019 on the general public powder tracks and then it was necessary to get used to the competition tracks, covered with icy snow where the temperature can reach -20 to -30 degrees, which can cause frostbite. Even a regular on the black slopes was not up to the task! For almost 4 years, "Doctors of Ski" (FOP or Field of Play), we call them, train like professional athletes to become experienced skiers. Every winter, they conduct simultaneous consultations and operations in the hospital and training on the tracks 4 or 5 weeks a year. Training includes simulating a rescue operation, mastering communication tools, doing the right thing in the face of cold and danger, putting on and taking off skis on snow without slipping down steep slopes. Thanks to her, these competitive doctors, from hospitals, are the first in China to be specially trained in ski emergency relief. However, it is noted that no athlete died during the Winter Olympics, the only cases occurred during the training. How do they intervene? Dressed in an orange jacket with a white cross, the medical team, aged between 33 and 62, is made up of nearly forty anesthetists, traumatologists and surgeons. They wait for orders in the most dangerous places. They carry on their back a 10 kg bag, containing intubation equipment, syringes, an oxygen bottle, gauze, splints, a stethoscope, a defibrillator and a tensiometer ... they are ready to operate on skis or shoes with crampons. even for serious cases., equipped with 5G walkie-talkies with screen and video camera. Furthermore, English training is essential to communicate with foreign athletes. Doctors must do things differently than in a hospital where they are surrounded by staff and resources to help them. Skiers can speed up to 140 km/h, any fall can be serious as well as the dangers. That's why rescuers need to intervene very quickly, in less than 4 minutes. After assessment of the injury and first aid, the injured person must be evacuated quickly to a hospital where he can receive all necessary care.
