Medicine Practitioners Impressed

The eagerness to learn from Team Fiji doctors and physiotherapists impressed Pre-Hospital Immediate Care in Sport course facilitator, Lucy Clarke, who was in the country for a two day internationally recognised Level 2 Certification Pre-Hospital Immediate Care workshop last weekend (18th - 19th May, 2019).

"What I saw over the two days was a lot of eagerness from the participants and their willingness to learn something new," she said.

"It was lovely to see it in practice and to watch them work together as is the purpose of the course which is to ensure that everyone is on the same page,"

Lucy, who is also the Hong Kong Head of Player Welfare and Medical, said the course would allow doctors and physiotherapists to be trained and be on the same level as others around the world.

"So it could be a Rugby World Cup, Olympic Games or any World Sporting event and these doctors and physios will know what to do and how to handle any situation," she said.

Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee in partnership with Oceania Rugby hosted a two day workshop which Lucy said involved 21 doctors and physiotherapists who had to do 15 hours of pre-learning component.

"This 15 hour pre-learning component was before this workshop where the participants go through practical skills and discussion sessions," she said.

"It also required participants to have a 100 per cent pass rate before attending this workshop."

Participants also had to go through an exam session after the two days which Lucy said tested the doctors and physio's knowledge and practical skills.

Lucy said participants had to "tick all the right boxes" before they were passed competent and handed their Level 2 Pre-Hospital Immediate Care certificates.

Doctor Enoch Baravi said the workshop was an eye-opener for him especially since he just started learning about Sports Medicine last year.

"While most of us already have the knowledge about First Aid but this course allows us to organise our thinking and puts us in a systemic way for us and is also a refresher for most of us," he said.

Physiotherapist SainimereBulitimai said the course was really important because it would allow them to identify and act when a situation arises.

"With all the knowledge we got from this two day workshop, we are now aware about what to look out for and how to handle when an athlete is injured or needs assistance on or off the field."

FASANOC High Performance Commission chairperson, Cathy Wong, said the workshop was part of FASANOC's Strategic Plan to ensure that support staff including medical personnel were competent and qualified.

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