Archive News
Cutting out medical jargon in treatment of sports injuries
Date Published: {J}
ANEW sports injury manual, which has been co-written by a Galway-based Orthopaedics’ surgeon, is proving an invaluable source of information for doctors, physiotherapists, coaches and, indeed, parents in managing sports injuries.
Entitled ‘Sports Emergencies – Management Scenarios’, the book is the collective work of Galway surgeon, Mr. Brian M. Devitt, Specialist Registrar in Orthopaedics at UHG and Merlin Park, and Professor of Orthopaedics at the Royal College of Surgeons, John M. O’Byrne.
The book, itself, is a quick, easily accessible colour reference guide on how to manage an emergency on the sports field, with the manual aiming to allay anxieties by providing clear instructions on what to do and, just as importantly, what not to do in a given sports emergency.
Indeed, the advantages of the book is that it is produced in pocket format with flexi cover so it can be easily carried around in the First Aid box or in a physio’s pouch; it offers step-by-step instructions; and it is clear and concise in its delivery.
According to Devitt, the idea for the book was originally conceived by his co-author, Prof. John O’Byrne, who is the Republic of Ireland’s team surgeon. “He (O’Byrne) was conscious on the pitch that when they were doing basic life support, they needed to have very clear guidelines on what to do,” says Devitt.
“So, they made their own laminated sheet on how to manage, for instance, a cardiac arrest. One person would be responsible for cutting the jersey off; another would be responsible for wiping down the chest; and another would be responsible for putting the paddles on. So, they wrote those instructions down.”
The seed was sown and over the following months and years, the premise of the book was expanded to include the treatment of more and more injuries. “I was doing research for him at the time, so he asked me would I get involved. I said I would gladly take on the role,” says the Dublin native, particularly as it allowed him to marry his own sporting background with his chosen vocation.
Having qualified from UCD in 2001, Devitt completed his surgical training in Cork between 2002 and 2004. During this time, he also undertook a Masters in Sport and Exercise Medicine. “When I was doing my Masters down there I became acutely aware that there was nothing out there to manage the injuries on the field of play. So, I went into orthopaedics.”
The fact that the talented surgeon hailed from a sporting background no doubt helped, having played AIL Division 1 rugby with Clontarf for a number of seasons. “When you are a medical student, you are always asked onto the pitch, even though I was not fully qualified. But, as I became a doctor, I learned a bit more. So, that was what kind of prompted me to do the Masters in the first place.
“After that, I was interested in learning a bit more about injuries. Then, on a personal level, I did some work with the IRFU, when I came back to Dublin in 2004. I worked as a team doctor for the Irish amateur international team first, in 2006, and then I went on to become the team doctor for the Irish U-20s team and I have been doing that for the past three years.”
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
SLIGO 0-9
GALWAY 1-4
FRANK FARRAGHER IN ENNISCRONE
GALWAY’S first serious examination of the 2013 season rather disturbingly ended with a rating well below the 40% pass mark at the idyllic, if rather Siberian, seaside setting of Enniscrone on Sunday last.
The defeat cost Galway a place in the FBD League Final against Leitrim and also put a fair dent on their confidence shield for the bigger tests that lie ahead in February.
There was no fluke element in this success by an understrength Sligo side and by the time Leitrim referee, Frank Flynn, sounded the final whistle, there wasn’t a perished soul in the crowd of about 500 who could question the justice of the outcome.
It is only pre-season and last Sunday’s blast of dry polar winds did remind everyone that this is far from summer football, but make no mistake about it, the match did lay down some very worrying markers for Galway following a couple of victories over below par third level college teams.
Galway did start the game quite positively, leading by four points at the end of a first quarter when they missed as much more, but when Sligo stepped up the tempo of the game in the 10 minutes before half-time, the maroon resistance crumbled with frightening rapidity.
Some of the statistics of the match make for grim perusal. Over the course of the hour, Galway only scored two points from play and they went through a 52 minute period of the match, without raising a white flag – admittedly a late rally did bring them close to a draw but that would have been very rough justice on Sligo.
Sligo were backable at 9/4 coming into this match, the odds being stretched with the ‘missing list’ on Kevin Walsh’s team sheet – Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen, Tony Taylor, Ross Donovan, David Kelly, David Maye, Johnny Davey and Eamon O’Hara, were all marked absent for a variety of reasons.
Walsh has his Sligo side well schooled in the high intensity, close quarters type of football, and the harder Galway tried to go through the short game channels, the more the home side bottled them up.
Galway badly needed to find some variety in their attacking strategy and maybe there is a lot to be said for the traditional Meath style of giving long, quick ball to a full forward line with a big target man on the edge of the square – given Paul Conroy’s prowess close to goal last season, maybe it is time to ‘settle’ on a few basics.
Defensively, Galway were reasonably solid with Gary Sice at centre back probably their best player – he was one of the few men in maroon to deliver decent long ball deep into the attacking zone – while Finian Hanley, Conor Costello and Gary O’Donnell also kept things tight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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