Sri Lanka’s medical staff for the XXII Commonwealth Games is drawing up contingency plans to create awareness and combat the heatwave experienced in the United Kingdom and spreading across Europe.
“The temperature is fluctuating and unpredictable. We have advised athletes to stay hydrated and take precautions from getting heat strokes,” said Dr. Lal Ekanayake, Director General of the Institute of Sports Medicine who is heading the medical team which comprises three doctors, one physiotherapist, and two masseurs.
He made these observations when he made a presentation at the meeting of managers on July 12. “They have to take precautions and told them to pass the message down to the athletes,” added Dr. Ekanayake who has accompanied Sri Lanka contingents at three previous Commonwealth Games in Melbourne 2006, Delhi 2010, and Glasgow 2014 in addition to the Asian Games in Doha 2006 and Jakarta 2018.
Dr. Himan de Silva will be in-charge of Covid-19 protocols and Dr. Asela Ratnayake will assist him. Udara Sahabandu is the physiotherapist while the two masseurs are Manjula Pradeep and Udara Galhena.
Dr. Ratnayake has also made arrangements to get the expertise from Sri Lankan doctors based in the UK and has drawn up a plan to monitor the athletes who will be housed in four different villages during the Games.
Para athlete Palitha Bandara was the first Sri Lankan competitor to arrive in Birmingham on Monday along with his coach Prabath Danushka Perera.
A team of five officials headed by Maj. Gen. Dampath Fernando (rtd), the Chef-de-Mission of the Sri Lanka contingent, arrived in Birmingham yesterday. He was accompanied by National Olympic Committee Treasurer and Deputy Chef-de-Mission Gamini Jayasinghe, Press Attache Gobinath Sivaraj, and two administration officials Hansika Wijayagunasekera and Hiruni Munasinghe.
The bulk of the 160-member Sri Lanka contingent for Birmingham 2022 is scheduled to depart on Monday. “All flight arrangements have been finalized and the final team size calculator approved by the Commonwealth Games organizers,” said Maj. Gen. Fernando before his departure.
He has been meticulously looking into every single detail of the tour ahead of today’s Delegates Review Meeting (DRM) where he will sign in the officials and athletes participating at the Games to give them the green light to enter the assigned village.
Maj. Gen. Fernando has also devised a contingency plan to overcome the fuel crisis so that everything goes according to schedule. “I am in constant communication with the managers on a specially created WhatsApp group and update them daily with every development to keep them in the loop,” he said.
“Athletes are training in different locations and we have to plan for their departure from Katunayake in terms of transport, and security. I have discussed with the team what to do, whether to assemble in one place or make a different arrangement. During the Tokyo Olympics, the tour party was kept in a bio bubble before going to the airport,” said Maj. Gen. Fernando who headed Sri Lanka’s contingent at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
As for tackling the heatwave, Sri Lanka’s Chef-de-Mission is confident that the medical personnel are well prepared to tackle any emergency. “We have actually informed doctors to be prepared for that. Dr. Lal (Ekanayake) made a good presentation during the managers’ meeting. I hope and pray it has been conveyed to athletes,” he said.
With the rise in Covid-19 cases and influenza rising around the world, he has also cautioned managers to advise athletes to take extra precautions. “If you are positive they will isolate you,” he said. Athletes will have to undergo a PCR at the Birmingham 2022 Welcome Centre before gaining entry to the Games Village. In addition they will have to do Rapid Antigen Tests daily.
“I have advised doctors to closely monitor the situation. Team managers will also have to fill each and every activity of every individual in order to keep a tab on the numbers,” said Maj. Gen. Fernando, a battle seasoned Army veteran who served as Chief of Staff before his retirement.