MEDICAL-CARE DELIVERY AT THE 1996 OLYMPIC-GAMES

Context.-Mass gatherings like the 1996 Olympic Games require medical s ervices for large populations assembled under unusual circumstances. O bjective.-To examine delivery of medical services and to provide data for planning future events. Design.-ObservationaI cohort study, with r eview of medical records at Olympics medical facilities. Setting.-One large multipurpose clinic and 128 medical aid stations operating at Ol ympics-sponsored sites in the vicinity of Atlanta, Ga. Participants.-A total of 10 715 patients, including 1804 athletes, 890 officials, 480 Olympic dignitaries, 3280 volunteers, 3482 spectators, and 779 others who received medical care from a physician at an Olympic medical stat ion. Main Outcome Measures.-Number of injuries and cases of heat-relat ed illness among participant categories, medical use rates among parti cipants with official Games credentials, and use rates per 10 000 pers ons attending athletic competitions. Results.-Injuries, accounting for 35% of all medical visits, were more common among athletes (51.9% of their visits, P < .001) than among other groups. Injuries accounted fo r 31.4% of all other groups combined. Spectators and volunteers accoun ted for most (88.9%, P < .001) of the 1059 visits for heat-related ill ness. The rates for number of medical encounters treated by a physicia n were highest for athletes (16.2 per 100 persons, P < .001) and lowes t for volunteers (2.0 per 100). Overall physician treatment rate was 4 .2 per 10 000 in attendance (range, 1.6-30.1 per 10 000). A total of 4 32 patients were transferred to hospitals. Conclusions.-Organizers use d these data during the Games to monitor the health of participants an d to redirect medical and other resources to areas of increased need. These data should be useful for planning medical services for future m ass gatherings.