CPMU EMT Corey Hamel has returned from a two-week deployment to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a volunteer on the Field of Play Athletes Medical Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In this capacity, Corey worked as a medic at the Canoe Slalom event at Whitewater Stadium and the Cycling BMX event at the X-Park, both part of the Deodoro Olympic Park in Rio.
In order to be chosen as a volunteer Corey participated in a rigorous interview and selection process based on his experience and skill set. As a part of the Rio2016 medical team, Corey provided volunteer emergency medical care to Olympian competitors during these events, all of which were extreme tests of fitness and endurance.
A select 4,000 of the 70,000 volunteers and employees at Rio2016 were medical personnel, consisting of paid and volunteer doctors, physiotherapists, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and technicians. There were 146 advanced life support ambulances throughout the competition and one medevac helicopter specifically for the Deodoro complex due to the high-risk nature of the extreme events at that location.