Prince George-Mackenzie MLA, Mike Morris, BC Mobile Medical Unit Clinical Operations Director, Paul Hennecke, 2015 Canada Winter Games Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Janet Ames, UHNBC Emergency Department Manager, Jim Fitzpatrick, at Friday's 'test' set-up of the mobile unit

Prince George, BC – The mobile medical unit 'tested' at the University Hospital of Northern BC on Friday will be just one of the many layers that make up medical services during the 2015 Canada Winter Games in our city. (click here, for previous story)

One year out, medical officials anticipate using the MMU to handle 'extra traffic' at the hospital due to the number of visitors in Prince George for the Games.

Dr Janet Ames will be the Chief Medical Officer during the two-week event next February.  The local sports medicine physican was the CMO for Team Canada during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, after being on the medical team at the '94 Lillehammer Games.  Dr Ames says there are many 'layers' to the medical services that will be in place during the Canada Winter Games.

All 15 venues will have medical treatment available that will vary depending on the level of risk involved in the sport.  Where gymnastics will require a lot of taping needs and a physiotherapist or athletic therapist with a lot of sports care experience, Ames says there will also be venues that require a doctor on-hand.  "It's a matter of handling everything from a major head injury, to a significant knee injury, or fracture."

In addition, the second floor of the Civic Centre will be home to a 'Poly' Clinic for athletes and participants, including coaches and Mission staff.  "By about the fourth day of the Games, there's lots of athletes who'll be coming back for their ongoing treatment in the therapy department," says Dr. Ames.  "It may be for an injury that happened during the Games, but it's just as likely that they came to the Games with it.  There's lots of injuries that don't require an athlete to be out of the competition, but do require management while they're here."

Preparing for infectious diseases is also part of the planning process.  The Games's Chief Nurse will work with Provincial Infection Control, while the Chief Poly Clinic Nurse will work with Northern Health and Communicable Diseases.  Both will receive constant assistance from Public Health.  "So, those two will be very much involved with monitoring and making sure that we don't have whooping cough, or someone doesn't arrive with measles."

"If a plane landed with sick people on it, for whatever reason, we have to have a way of handling that and not have them come in and get everyone else sick."  Although not under her direction, Dr. Ames says measures are also being taken to monitor food and water safety, to make sure there are no outbreaks of illness from those sources.

The Chief Medical Officer says efforts are underway to recruit as many medical volunteers as possible from the local area.  "We're a bit challenged in the north because we don't have a lot of sports medicine physicians and we don't have a lot of sports physiotherapists or athletic physiotherapists."  The goal is to have a team of 50 in place.  She says many will be recruited through national organizations, like the Canadian Academy of Sport & Exercise Medicine, from across the country.  "The doctors will apply and we'll have some input into picking them because we know where the gaps are."

Local physiotherapists are being offered a First Responder course in April to equip them with the extra skills needed to work a sporting event.  Dr Ames says it's meant to be a legacy of the Games – " (the local community) is better ready to handle similar events in the future and the physiotherapist then thinks, 'Well, maybe I'll volunteer at my kid's hockey game because now I have more skills.'"