There will be plenty of cipro and other drugs on hand to treat all 450 expected U.S. athletes attending the 2002 Salt Lake Games said Dan Carr, head physician for the U.S. Olympic team. He added that if more is needed, “we will be able to get our hands on sufficient quantities as needed in a very short time frame”.
U.S. medical personnel must worry about such possibilities as biological terrorism aimed at U.S. Olympic athletes since the Winter Games are a tempting target.
Despite the most extensive security arrangements in Olympic history, Carr and his staff of doctors and trainers must be prepared in case the precautions fail. He said, “we have to worry about that just like we did in Atlanta and Sydney. These worries are on our fingertips more than then because of what has happened”, he said.
Ed Ryan, the USOC medical director said, “the biggest part of our homework is to decide what our plan will be when we get to Salt Lake. We will be prepared. We will have the resources. In Atlanta, as in Munich, there is always something that comes up. You can only prepare so many things. That is what we train for”.
Doctors must anticipate such troubles as an athlete needing medical help at the opening ceremonies where a no-fly zone is likely to be established that would make taking a helicopter to a hospital impossible.
Carr said, “you feel an awareness more than you did two months ago. We follow IOC guidelines and work with the Centers for Disease Control. All we can do is prepare”.
