Curing Olympic headaches

The answer is C.

According to the Discovery Channel online, Intermountain Health Care has stockpiled 70,000 aspirin tablets for this month’s Olympic games. That’s along with 92 stretchers, 1,558 ankle braces, 7,800 tongue depressors, 175 defibrillators, and 29,812 doses of liquid antacid -- among thousands of other things.

The supplies -- several million dollars' worth -- were donated by Cardinal Health Inc., based on Intermountain’s experience with injuries and illnesses it handled during events last year. Intermountain, which runs 5 hospitals in the area, expects to see about 10,000 patients a day at its Olympic clinics -- for mostly minor problems. Olympic medical staff are prepared to see altitude sickness, dehydration and even the occasional kidney stone. Any leftover supplies will be distributed to Utah agencies that provide services to the homeless and indigent communities, according to the organizing committee's medical services director.

RESOURCES

• Read about Dr. Kenneth Buckwalter's experience as a volunteer radiologist in Salt Lake City in his online journal. IUSM physician Buckwalter was one of eight radiologists nationally selected to treat athletes and dignitaries at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
• Discovery Health Channel offers previews of programs as well as disease, nutrition, and drug information.

February 23, 2002