Medical teams ready for Palaro

Medical personnel from the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine will be flown in from Manila to lend their support to whatever emergencies will crop up in the 2008 Palarong Pambansa in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

The need to send nurses and physical therapists from the PCSM for the Palaro was discussed during the recent coordination meeting between the Palarong Pambansa board and the city administration of Puerto Princesa City under Mayor Edward Hagedorn.

Commissioner Eric Loretizo said Palaro organizers relayed to the Philippine Sports Commission the need to have medical specialists present during the Games in order “to avoid the incidents, which took place last year, from happening again.”

“One thing Mayor Hagedorn assured is the preparedness of the LGU. Palawan has a track record of organizing the Palaro and other sports events,” said Loretizo, who is the PSC’s pointman in the Palarong Pambansa.

Sports medicine personnel will back up the Palarong Pambansa medical team, which is composed of doctors and nurses from the city’s health department, when the Games commence from April 20 to 26.

Sports officials will not only remember the 2007 Palarong Pambansa held last year in Koronadal City in South Cotabato for its spates of triumphs, but also for the tragedies that had somehow diminished the luster of this annual school sports spectacle.

The Games ended with six people dead, and scores injured from accidents, while hundreds succumbed to illnesses due to the unusually searing heat.

Peter Atencio | Manila Standard

Among the dead were two school officials, who passed away due to cardiopulmonary arrest, while two athletes and two officials from Cagayan Valley died when the bus they were riding bound for Tuguegarao collided with a Manila-bound bus in Cordon, Isabela.

The National Capital Region, a traditional powerhouse in the Palaro, ran away with the overall crown in the elementary and secondary divisions, and capped its dominance when it ruled the basketball event in both divisions.

Source: Manila Standard