Athletes get injured. It’s an unavoidable risk of competition, and sometimes it happens at the worst possible time — during the Olympics. On Saturday, the Games saw its first serious injury when the French gymnast Samir Ait Said snapped his leg after landing a vault.
For the next few weeks, any injured Olympian will be brought to Americas Medical City, a shiny new complex made up of two hospitals — Hospital Samaritano and Hospital Vitoria. Built in 2014, it was designated a year later as the hospital that would treat injured Olympic athletes during the Rio Games.
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The treatment is white glove. An anesthesiologist, general surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, cardiologist, and neurologist are on standby 24 hours to respond to any emergency. The hospitals are also equipped with the latest MRI, X-ray and PET scan technology.
Diagnostic testing facilities are designed for the complex to treat Zika and other infectious diseases. And in the event of a terror attack, Americas Medical City is also the reference hospital for trauma patients, which means they would receive patients first and then triage them to other facilities as needed.
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