Raptors docs in town for the Games

MIRIAM HILL

Athletes competing in the Arctic Winter Games will be treated to the best in sports medicine while in Iqaluit.

Cory Chegwyn, head of the medical services committee for the Games, said specialists with one of the National Basketball Association’s most promising teams will be stationed at the athlete’s village to deal with any strains, sprains, or other injuries that occur during the March 17 to 23 event, being held jointly in Nuuk, Greenland.

“I’m bringing in a whole team from the South who are sports medicine specialists,” Chegwyn said. “Most of them are with the Toronto Raptors.”

Dr. Joe Pelino, who has previously visited Iqaluit to coach hockey, will head the team. The chief physician is an orthopedic surgeon for the Raptors.

“The rest of that team all sort of work for the Toronto Raptors,” Chegwyn said.

About 1,000 athletes will begin arriving in Iqaluit March 16 from across Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, northern Alberta, Alaska, Greenland, northern Quebec and Russia.

The five-member sports medicine team will bring high-tech equipment to perform tests and treatments ranging from ultrasounds to laser treatment.

“It is probably the best sports medicine diagnostics and treatment the kids in Nunavut will ever see, so we’re pretty happy with that,” Chegwyn says.

In addition to the sports medicine team, 16 paramedics are being brought in from the South to help with emergency medical situations. Most of them are coming from Canadian Helicopters in Ontario, a leading provider of air ambulance and search and rescue helicopter services around the world.

The extra hands will be more than welcomed.

“We only have eight full-time firefighter emergency EMTs at the fire hall here, so we’re going to have our hands full looking after the town as per usual and all the fire issues that are coming up,” Chegwyn says.

Firefighters must inspect all venues before and during the Games. Each venue will be inspected once a day during the Games, and the athletes’ village will be checked twice a day to make sure everything is safe and exit paths are cleared.

“I’ve scheduled myself for about four hours sleep that week,” Chegwyn laughs. “After the Games are over, I’m going to need a nap.”