2002 Winter Olympics: Nurses “Go for the Gold"

By Kristin Rothwell, NurseZone feature writer

Beginning Feb. 8, an estimated 3 billion people worldwide will be tuning in to watch the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the world’s finest athletes will compete for the coveted gold medal. Most viewers will be unaware that nurse volunteers work behind the scenes to do their part, keeping the athletes and support staff healthy.

During the 16-day international event, Kim E. Phillips, RN, MSN, will be leading the volunteer effort, providing medical care to the spectators, volunteers and athletes, as the operations manager for the Olympic Village Polyclinic and first aid station.

"When I [heard] that the University of Utah [Medical Center] would be hosting the Olympic Village, I knew I wanted to be a volunteer," said Phillips, who specializes in solid organ transplant at the Medical Center. "I have long been a fan of the Olympics after attending the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal as a child. I was ready and willing to do whatever I could to participate in [the 2002 Winter Olympics in] any way possible."

Figuring that he would volunteer to work a few shifts as a nurse, he was pleasantly surprised to also be handed the opportunity to oversee and manage the set-up and clinical operations of the entire Olympics and Paralympics Athletes Village medical services.

To provide the best medical care possible, Phillips will be working alongside a team of nearly 40 registered nurses, five nurse practitioners/advanced practice nurses and 15 physicians, who will be divided between the Polyclinic and the first aid station.

The Polyclinic, as described by Phillips, will be a multi-specialty clinic offering primary care, sports medicine, ophthalmology, dental, lab, radiology, pharmacy and physical therapy. It will provide the bulk of medical services for athletes and volunteers during the games, while the first aid station will mainly cater to Olympic spectators.

"We are set-up as any basic type of multi-specialty clinic," Phillips said. "All urgent medical situations that arise outside of the Polyclinic will be dealt with through the Emergency Medical Service and taken to the University of Utah Medical Center. Any [routine] services not available within the Polyclinic will [also] be sent to University of Utah Medical Center, which is only a few hundred yards behind the back gate of the Village." It is the closest an Olympic Village has ever been to a university campus and hospital service.

Though Phillips does not expect to treat many U.S. athletes or athletes from other developed countries—since most will arrive at the Winter Games with their own medical treatment teams, relying only on the Polyclinic for support services—he said, "Teams from smaller countries use the Polyclinic for all of their care and often for care that they don’t have access to in their own country. Dental care, for example, is a very busy service, since athletes can receive treatment at no cost to them."

According to medical record statistics from prior Winter Olympic Games, Phillips and his team expect to treat a large population of Olympic volunteers, mostly treating upper respiratory tract infections (URIs), altitude sickness, colds, flu and minor injuries.

As the operations manager, Phillips will be responsible for ensuring appropriate staffing, training staff on the use of new equipment and computer systems, assisting with the anticipated high volume of triage calls coming in from outside the clinic and "anything that needs to be done to keep things functioning," he said.

Though the Polyclinic and first aid station won’t be in operation until Jan. 26, the medical staff was chosen months ago. Part of Phillips’ responsibilities as operations manager involved him in the "hiring" process of nurse volunteers—many of whom work at University of Utah Medical Center.

"The most important [qualities] we were looking for were nurses who have a strong desire to move into a new environment and quickly become functional," he said. "Familiarity with outpatient/triage skills was also very important."

Those who were "hired" to work as volunteer medical staff for the Winter Games under Phillips’ direction not only had to prove they had the skills to "get the job done" and pass the criminal background check since security will be tighter than ever following Sept. 11, but also had to commit to working a total of seven eight-hour shifts during each of the Olympics and Paralympics events. The clinics will be open 24 hours a day during the games and set-up.

"Given all of this security, the volunteer staff has remained dedicated to this cause and are all looking forward to the event, although there is more of a feeling of patriotism in the role that we’re playing and making sure that the 2002 games are a success," Phillips said.

Although the job doesn’t include free passes to athletic events, the volunteers will receive a full Olympic uniform, including an official Olympic Marker Ski Jacket, tickets to the opening ceremonies dress rehearsal, an official Olympic medical service pin, tickets to the Medals Plaza where the medal ceremonies will take place and a kazoo to remember the 2002 U.S. Olympic Team’s mission statement, "CHARGE!"

In addition to the "perks" of being an Olympic volunteer, Phillips said he is looking forward to being on the "inside" of the Olympics, "being able to participate in something that usually no one else has the chance to, interacting with so many other people from so many other cultures and geographical areas and the opportunity to serve all of those people who are guests here in Utah."

And while Phillips was never drawn to any specific sport growing up and never saw "real mountains" until moving to Utah after graduating from nursing school, he said, "You can’t live in Utah and not be impacted by the outdoors. That is what has spurred my passion to be involved in this winter sports activity.”

Nurses Who are U.S. Olympic Alumni

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