The 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) in The Bahamas will feature about 1,300 athletes from the participating member countries of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which means that there will be a need for local medical officers to step forward and volunteer their services.
According to Dr. Ricky Davis, the lead doctor on the CYG team, over 200 volunteers would be required to accommodate the influx of athletes who are coming for the games. The 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games is set for July 17-24 in New Providence.
"We have 138 athletes from The Bahamas and we have doctors who will be covering the events that they are in. We have nurses, chiropractors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, as well as Red Cross officials," said Davis. "We need approximately 200 volunteers. We want to have some pharmacists on board. The task is very large and we need about 10 ambulances for the entire event during the time it is going on, which we know is a challenge. We are asking the local, as well as the private sector, to volunteer. Anyone from any hospital, any private or public clinic, wherever you work, we just need volunteers to come out.
"A lot of people are asking how much will we pay. God knows if I had the money I would pay all of the volunteers. However, this is giving back to your country. Everything isn't about pay. Yes, we want money, but it isn't always about money. It is about the pride of the country.
I think a lot of people need to take more pride in the country and stop worrying about money all the time. We have to have pride. The medical persons who are participating, I have to ask the government to give them time off. We need nurses, physiotherapists and more. The medical team also has to cover the three hotels that the athletes will be living in."
Dr. Davis said that up to the week of the event they will be accepting medical volunteers.
Almost all events will be held in the same sporting precinct, the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, which includes the 15,000-seat Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, host of the opening and closing ceremonies, and the athletics portion of the games.
It will also be the first Commonwealth Games event to be held in the Caribbean in over 50 years, with the last one being the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.

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