Features Practice Technique
2015 Canada Games seeks volunteer RMTs for medical services team

In an open letter to RMTs in B.C., Brian Farrance encouraged their
participation in the 18-day sporting event that will run from Feb. 13 to
March 1, 2015, in Prince George, B.C.

“Our goal is to have four hours of massage
therapy care available in the polyclinic per day,” said Farrance, who
has been involved in seven Canada Games, including the 2015 event. “My
experience with previous Canada Games has seen chiropractor and massage
therapist treatment overused in a ‘spa like’ approach. This is not the
approach we’d like to take for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.”

Instead,
he said, the intent is to have each athlete visit a medical doctor the
first time they come to the clinic, prior to seeing a therapist. The
athlete will require a referral from the MD for massage therapy or
chiropractic appointments.

The polyclinic will include a
12-station therapy area,  nursing station, several MD examining room and
short-term care isolation area.

“All athletic therapists and
physiotherapists will have good manual skills for myofascial work and
the MDs will refer only those patients who need specialized treatment.
In this way, our volunteer professionals will be the most helpful and
not overwhelmed,” Farrance said.

Other physicians with diploma in
sport medicine from the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine
are also expected to be involved, as well as therapists from across
Canada with national and international sport therapy experience.

“This
is a wonderful opportunity to gain experience,” Farrance said. “We are
all volunteers and the same will be true for the DCs and the RMTs.”

Practitioners interested in joining the medical services team may contact Farrance at 2015ChiefTherapist@gmail.com.