Medical Service Provider For the 2002 Winter Olympic Games

This month Utahns are celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the Games with a variety of community and media activities to note the anniversary.

Intermountain Healthcare was selected by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee to be the medical services provider for the 2002 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Here's a look back at that role and a snapshot of the medical services provided by Intermountain:

• In total, Intermountain staffed 1,350 medical volunteers at 35 clinics. Each venue had at least two clinics — one for spectators and one for athletes.
• Five Intermountain hospitals were designated as "Olympic Hospitals." McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Cottonwood Hospital in Murray, Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, and Heber Valley Medical Center in Heber.
• 11,575 medical cases were treated during the 2002 Olympic Games. Patients from 94 countries were treated at the 35 clinics, with 49 percent of patients being visitors from outside the U.S. Athletes accounted for 1,377 of the medical visits, with the remainder being spectators, officials, media, contractors, venue volunteers and staff.
• The Paralympic Games in March 2002 produced another 1,013 visits to 10 special medical clinics set up for the event. There were 350 medical volunteers for the Paralympics.
• The most common types of medical issues treated at the 2002 Olympic Games were respiratory complaints, sprains and strains, and cuts and abrasions. Less common complaints included frostbite (16 cases) and altitude sickness (43 cases).
• During the 2002 Olympic Games, Intermountain dispensed 70,000 aspirin and used: 364 exam tables; 10,016 rolls of medical tape; 1,558 ankle braces; 170,136 antacid tablets; and 720 scissors.