HA medical support team: A pillar-of-support for athletes
The HA deployed 325 healthcare professionals to provide medical support for this year's National Games. Among them, Dr Wan Kuang-an, Consultant of the Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department at Ruttonjee and Tang Shiu Kin Hospitals, and Lan Yim-hung, Deputy Hospital Chief Executive/ Department Operations Manager at St John Hospital, were assigned as doctor-in-charge and nurse-in-charge to the beach volleyball events. They were on standby from 9am to 8pm every day, offering medical support to athletes and staff.
During the 10-day beach volleyball competitions, sometimes there were as many as 18 matches in a single day. "Although our official duty starts at 9am, athletes usually arrive early to get familiar with the venue. So, we would be at the Victoria Park at around 7am for advance preparations," says Dr Wan. The beach volleyball medical support team consisted of five doctors, five nurses, and several colleagues from the Head Office Major Incident Control Centre, deploying at different locations of the venue for emergencies. Dr Wan explains that fractures, bleeding, and ligament injuries were commonly found among beach volleyball players. Athletes also sought the team's help in cleaning the wounds and removing the sutures. So, the team prepared powerful painkillers and appropriate medical supplies in advance. The medical support team has developed contingency protocols and undergone drills to cope with medical-related emergency event.
Both Dr Wan and Lan have served in various roles such as team doctor and back-end support at equestrian of Beijing Olympics and the East Asian Games. "I have been working in the A&E Department for over 20 years, with limited exposure to pre-hospital trauma care. Being able to apply our professional knowledge to major sports events is a rare opportunity and helps broaden my experience," says Lan. Dr Wan adds that athletes were always striving for victory. So, the team's duty was to help the athletes recover as quickly as possible and then return to competition. "Stepping out of hospital to demonstrate our professionalism to Hong Kong people and the Mainland athletes has been a journey of personal growth as well," say Dr Wan and Lan.
