title: Torino 2006. XX Olympic and IX Paralympic Winter Games: the ENT experience.
abstract: A total of 27 competition days, more than 3000 athletes, over 10,000 components of the Olympic family, 3,500 workers, 2,500 volunteers, an overall business of more than 2 billion Euros. These, in a nutshell, are just a few of the data concerning the XX Olympic and the IX Paralympic Winter Games, Torino, Italy, 2006. Such a huge event, obviously required a meticulously organized medical service to cope with the healthcare of the athletes, official workers and the Olympic family, distributed over a geographic area of approximately 80 km in diameter. An ENT service was organized within the medical service, which was divided between 3 Polyclinics, in which 12 ENT Specialists were on duty. The present report gives an account of the final data concerning the service involved, together with a description of the approach used in the actual organization, with a view to providing useful information for colleagues who will be called upon, for a similar service, in future Olympic Winter Games. The ENT healthcare offered was confirmed to be proportional to the requirements, both from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. All the ENT specialists involved, reported having gained an immense store of human experience from having lived the Olympic atmosphere as a volunteer exerting one's own profession. The facilities available in the Polyclinics, which were at a considerable distance from the Hospital, were found to be more than adequate with respect to the pathological conditions and service requested, particularly in 17% of the cases which would otherwise have been sent to a Hospital Outpatient Unit at least 80 km away.
authors.affiliation: ENT Department, Martini Hospital, Turin, Italy. giovannisucco@hotmail.com
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Succo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crosetti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mattiazzo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riontino
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Massazza
mesh_terms: D003163:Competitive Behavior; D006296:Health Services / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D007558:Italy; D010036:Otolaryngology / Q000379:methods*; D010038:Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D013177:Sports