Marco, happy when he’s healthy
Ski Racing January 2011 – Ask a seasoned ski racer how many injuries they’ve had, and their list can chew up a good chunk of time. When athletes finally make it to World Cup level, their bodies have endured falls and injuries that would make most of us re-think the mountain lifestyle.
“I’ve had three major knee reconstructions, two separated shoulders, two fractured heels (at the same time), two concussions and a spattering of other broken thumbs and fingers. At least this is the list of injuries that I can recall,” quipped Marco Sullivan, home recuperating from one of those head injuries.
Fortunately, there’s a vast team of medical professionals whose job is to alleviate those ongoing souvenirs from this week’s training crash or even last year’s ACL tear. Managed by USSA, the medical program is fairly simple in its layout, but complex in size. While each sport has a paid physical therapist or certified athletic trainer traveling with that team, at competitions they’re assisted by extra PTs and CATs from the medical pool. And it’s mandatory that each event also has a physician on hand.
To cover all the racers on the various Alpine teams, plus Nordic, Snowboard and Freestyle athletes, USSA has a roster of over 120 physicians and physical therapists. And there’s one impressive detail: most of this medical pool works on a volunteer basis.
Dr. Terry Orr has been with the pool since 1988 and is currently the head physician for the men’s alpine team. Over the years, Dr. Orr has traveled to Olympics at Torino, Salt Lake City and Vancouver, plus World Championships and World Cup races at spots like Bormio, Soelden, Val D’Isere and St. Anton. While it sounds very magical and lovely, things can quickly become serious if an athlete goes down.
“If one of our racers gets injured,” explained Dr. Orr from his Lake Tahoe home, “we have to get to him as soon as possible. We’re always on course so we can make our way quickly and be involved in triage. Since there are always other medical people [like patrol], at the beginning we’re there mainly for oversight and assistance to ensure our athletes are being taken care of properly. We’re involved in the decisions on how he’ll be transported and whether it’s to a local or regional facility.”
At international venues, things can get a bit trickier when you throw in some language differences.
“Obviously, we’re not medically licensed in other countries, but we have a very good working relationship with the medical teams at most venues. So very often we’ll assist in surgery or at least scrub in, but it’s quickly apparent when there’s a language barrier. We do have access to every evaluation or test done along the way, and we’re in place in part to be an advocate for our athletes,” said Orr.
While the traveling physicians deal more with immediate injury, the physical therapist works with the athlete’s various ongoing problems. (According to USSA, knee injuries are common in all winter disciplines, with more upper-extremity and ankle injuries in snowboard and head injuries are common across the board.) Christa Riepe recently retired after many seasons traveling with the men’s and women’s alpine ski teams.
“Day-to-day life varied, but let’s say a typical training day I was out on the hill for training, running the start (essentially the link between the coaches and the athletes), inside for lunch, and then treatments usually started. I typically saw everyone almost every day, but it could be for ten minutes for a quick stretch – if nothing was wrong – or an hour or more if we were working on a specific injury/or maintenance issue.
“I would also go to dryland training and help out if there were athletes who couldn’t participate in that day’s activity; I would help come up with an alternative. I was also a chauffeur driving them to and from the hill, to and from venues,” Riepe explains.
“I traveled straight for seven years, home from April-July. I got to see some amazing places, but it was also difficult because I was still working, so I didn’t always get to spend all the time I wanted to exploring. I love the Dolomites in Italy – Cortina, Val Gardena, Reinswald and I am also a huge fan of Austria. There was not a bad stop on tour, aside from maybe Czechoslovakia (tough food there), but it was still interesting to see once,” says the physical therapist.
A co-worker of hers was Chris Proctor, a PT from the volunteer pool who has worked with the men’s alpine speed and men’s and women’s snowboard teams. Proctor gave more insight on the job, saying, “During the training runs and competition, the PT typically stands at the start to warm-up or stretch the boys and provides motivation. Also, the PT has a radio so they are the direct line of communication between the coaches and the athlete. Typically, an athlete that finishes can call up to the PT and talk with the next skier to give them pointers about the course.
“After the last racer on training days and/or competitions, the PT gathers up all the gear (jackets, boots, you name it) and the water bag and sideslips down. This is usually the most dangerous part of the whole gig as the hill is injected and very icy – having about 75 pounds on your back makes for fun descents,” recalls Proctor.
In his twelve years with the ski team, Marco Sullivan has definitely become a fan of the traveling ‘physio.’ He notes, “For me, the trainer is useful for treating chronic back and knee injuries that have crept up on me as my career progresses. I probably get treatment once or twice a week just to maintain my body. Also, after especially strenuous training days I get what we call a leg flush, which is basically a glorified leg massage to help clear the lactic acid out of the muscles.”
Sullivan, like many of his teammates in the speed disciplines, has also met more than his share of doctors in his race career. According to him, “The doctor is different each week as they all volunteer their time to come and help us on the World Cup. They’re very useful and very necessary when any of the guys have a wreck and have to go the hospital. Medical procedures vary a lot in different countries and having a doctor by your side gives the athlete so much more comfort when dealing with a serious injury.
“I recall one instance in St. Moritz when I badly separated my shoulder and the Swiss doctors wanted to immediately perform surgery. My doctor said ‘no way’ and I ended up not having surgery at all and it healed on its own after a few weeks. My most recent injury was a concussion and I was pretty out of it; we were in Italy and the facility where they had me was more like loony bin than a hospital. Our doctor was able to arrange for me and another Canadian athlete to be flown to the hospital in Innsbruck, which is a world class facility.”
Dr. Orr offered some more insight to international venues, saying “At each World Cup, they have what’s called an EAP – an Emergency Action Plan. At the initial day of the event, the medical team meets with the host country and goes over the details of the EAP. In it are the particulars such as how far away the medical facilities are, what the local vs. regional hospitals provide and things like that.”
Dr Orr summed up the medical program, saying, “Systems are in place – some places better than others – with a pretty good standard of care. For our US athletes, we’re just trying to ensure the best level of care available.”