Or, "why should I be listening to you?"
(I do not want to come across as having some shallow desire to blow my own trumpet, but it is helpful if readers know about some of my background that is relevant to the discussion since the question is being raised).
Please read this, if you have not already, Part one:
What I have to contribute is the experience with taking a whole lot of confusing chatter and turning it into a comprehensible and practical plan. This used to be my job. Let me tell you about it.
The Accident Compensation Commission was founded on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Accident Compensation Act 1972 and based on the report prepared for the Government by Sir Owen Woodhouse. It was the world-first no-fault accident compensation scheme, providing prevention, treatment and rehabilitation cover to all New Zealanders and visitors to our shores. It was revolutionary. During its early days, there was an almost daily procession of esteemed visitors from around the world, eager to see what New Zealand had created.
In 1976, I wrote to Ken Sandford, the Founding Chairman of the Accident Compensation Commission, saying that ACC needed to do something about sports injuries. I was summoned to Wellington for a grilling. The meeting was brief and went kind of like this:
"If you think you know so much, then you can do it!"
Yikes - what an offer!
I accepted the job, and was given the rather imposing title of "Executive Officer Sport and Recreation". My first task was to write my own job description. I had what was the best job in the world. I had so much freedom.
How did I get the job?
I don't really know. I think I was lucky. I guess I was in the right place at the right time.
I had been very involved as a committee member of the NZ Federation of Sports Medicine, working in the health sector and had recently completed a study tour, sponsored by the Federation, to look at Sweden's rehabilitation programmes, especially for the mentally and physically disabled, as well as for every day active people. That trip opened my eyes and I realised, then, just how backwards our own treatment and rehabilitation services were. I also realised that we should never assume that what we are doing now is right or always the best way.
We can always do better and we should always strive to do so. We must always be receptive to new ideas and new ways of doing things and this includes acknowledging that we often get it wrong.
Putting it right is what matters.
The most dangerous people are the ones who refuse to accept that they might be wrong. We all get things wrong. Getting it wrong, acknowledging the fact, then moving on is what drives progress.
One of the biggest impediments to progress in the area of sports and recreation injury prevention back then is most of the knowledge was tied up in academia and professional circles. In medicine back then it was said that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing", which meant patients and the public were best kept in total ignorance and darkness. The use of incomprehensible medical language (professional-speak) and meetings behind closed doors (conferences) ensured that the "knowledge" and the power that it conferred was kept exclusive to a handful of professions.
ACC began to sponsor numerous conferences and seminars that had anything to do with injury prevention, including big ones like the ACC-sponsored international symposium for medical practitioners on the orthopaedic treatment of back pain. Representing the sponsor, I attended just about every one of these conferences and seminars. My strategy was to identify good research and good ideas, then package these as comprehensible programmes that could then be delivered to the public. Here are a few examples.
Ice, Compression and Elevation (ICE)
It was about 1979 when All Black's physiotherapist, Peter Stokes, presented a paper at the annual conference for physiotherapists in Dunedin. His paper was about the use of ice, compression and elevation as the first aid treatment of sprains, strains and bruises. Back then such injuries were treated by rubbing it with liniment, heat and running it out.
I took the idea back to Wellington where we devised a national campaign to take the idea of ICE to the masses, not just sportspeople. Recruiting the assistance of organisations such as St Johns, the Federation of Sports Medicine and the NZ Rugby Union, the way sprains, strains and bruises were treated was changed literally overnight.
Be Safe - Be Seen
Daylight saving became an annual event in 1975. With it came a spate of fatalities and serious injuries. These were largely hidden until ACC began to monitor and analyse the data it was collecting. When the clocks were pushed forward as we entered winter, pedestrians, runners and cyclists were being caught in the dark, literally overnight with many suffering terrible accidents including death. Back then lights for bikes were terrible and so unreliable. The final straw came when we realised that some milk boys and girls who would run behind the milk trucks delivering milk to homes were being run over and killed. I was aware of the development of a new reflective fabric technology by the 3M Company. I began discussions with the manager of the company representing 3M. There was no market for reflective aids in NZ. Our offer to 3M was we would run a nation "Be Safe - Be Seen" campaign aimed at walkers, runners and cyclist on the understanding that they would make available ample supplies of reflective materials in NZ. We also liaised with players, such as the Eagle Driving School in Christchurch which was beginning producing a 3M-based reflective safety vest.
Teaming up with AMP Insurance, every milk boy and girl was given a free reflective safety vest. Posters and pamphlets were printed and distributed wide and far. A reflective triangular sticker featuring a wise owl ("Hooty Owl") was printed by 3M for us - hundreds of thousands. Recruiting the Scout Association by way of a generous donation from ACC they set out to hand a Hooty Owl and brochures to every household in NZ. It was a huge success, it cost ACC hardly anything and it birthed a new industry around reflective clothing and accessories that thrives to this day.
Mouthguards Campaign
This was around 1979 when the wearing of mouthguards in contact sports was about 15% at the most. The research was becoming very clear that the wearing of a mouthguard reduced the severity of injuries, such as dental, brain and to the neck, from blows to the jaw.
Teaming up with sporting associations, including NZ Rugby Union, NZ Coaches Association, school coaching, the NZ Dental Association and the Masterton-based manufacturer of an ingenious heat-moulded mouthguard (Prolon), we ran a national campaign to make the wearing of mouthguards the norm. This campaign included giving every junior playing a contact sport a free mouthguard which any dentist would fit for free. Within two seasons the wearing rate in rugby was nearly 80%.
Hypothermia in Sport
In 1980 New Zealand was shocked when four runners died from hypothermia while out on a Saturday club run in the Akatarawa Ranges. Back then it was thought that an athlete was more or less safe from hypothermia, so long as he or she kept moving. As the ACC representative on the ACC-funded NZ Mountain Safety Council, my response to this tragedy was to write a booklet explaining hypothermia as it relates to sports and run a national education campaign.
I even devised the "Survival Suit" for trail runners. It is a Tyvek fabric coverall that was carried as a bum bag, but no longer in productin. I still have a dozen or so here in storage.
Put that Tooth Back
About the same time, my brother, Gordon, while studying dentistry, wrote a dissertation titled, "The Reimplantation of Avulsed Teeth". Again, this was one of those pieces of research that would probably never see the light of day.
This was another fun project. I took Gordon's paper and devised a "Put that tooth back" campaign, harnessing the assistance of first aid organisations, sporting bodies, schools and the NZ Dental Association. Previously, if a tooth was knocked out, it was thrown away. Within 12 months just about everyone, including dentists knew that an avulsed tooth could be saved so long as the correct procedure was followed from the moment it was knocked out.
Spinal Injuries in Sport
I was monitoring spinal injuries as they came into the two specialised spinal injury units, one based in Otara and the other at Burwood. By compiling what each reported it became apparent that about 20 mostly young men were being paralysed each year after leaping into rivers and swimming pools (mostly appropriately-named Para Pools). As many as one dozen young men were being paralysed each year while playing, mostly while scrummaging.
Water safety
We ran an awareness campaign about the dangers of diving into shallow water. This was through the NZ Water Safety Council which was funded by ACC and which I sat on.
Rugby
Fortunately for me, this was just before the 1981 Springbok Tour and I was able to gather the support of "Rugby Mothers" and the public, in general, to bring pressure to bear upon the NZ Rugby Union to take action to better protect their players. This included the supporting of research into scrummaging pressures and techniques by the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Otago.
The results of these programmes speak for themselves with fewer serious spinal injuries per capita from these activities. The efforts to reduce these injuries continue to this day.
Safety Standards
One little-understood strategy that we had for improving sports and recreation safety was our role with funding and being a member of the NZ Standards Association. Safety standards were developed and refined for products like skateboards, bicycle helmets, trampolines and buoyancy vests.
Financial Grants
There were less obvious ways than public campaigns to bring about change for the better. ACC had a Financial Grants Committee. Any applications that were to do with sports medicine and sports and recreation, came across my desk and I would make a recommendation to the Committee.
For example, a young orthopaedic surgeon, Russell Tregonning, applied for a research grant to travel to North America to study a new form of knee surgery called arthroscopy. Back then knee surgery was akin to butchery. The application was accepted and arthroscopy eventually became the norm in NZ.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Chiropractic 1978-79
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Chiropractic was another remarkable project that I was involved with behind the scenes.
The NZ Society of Physiotherapists and the NZ Medical Association was campaigning to have chiropractors banned because they were dangerous. They argued that the only professionals qualified to treat spinal injuries were medical practitioners and physiotherapists. In response to pressure, the Government formed a commission of inquiry that was housed in ACC and serviced by us.
This was both a gob-smacking and an eye-opening experience. I think the real motivation in calling for this inquiry was to ensure that ACC never opened up funding for injury treatment to anybody other than physiotherapists and medical practitioners. ACC was their pot of money and they were sure as Hell not going to share it with anyone else! The inquiry was to be their final solution.
Those individuals opposed to chiropractic, who I won't name, turned up at our offices several times and banged on the desks while offering no credible evidence in support of their arguments. When it came to presenting their evidence before the Commission to support their cases, they had nothing credible. They were disorganised. It was embarrassing.
The chiropractors, on the other hand, turned up in their three-piece suits with large dossiers of referenced evidence and with eminent experts from around the world in tow to support their position. They were professional, they were thorough and they were slick. They had the backing of the science.
Although it was always thought that Inquiry was going to be a mere formality in favour of the doctors and physiotherapists, the Commission had no choice. How could they rule in favour of a group of professionals who had no credible evidence, who's spinal manipulation training consisted of a few boozy weekend workshops, versus the carefully researched and elegantly presented evidence of chiropractors who had several years of training in spinal manipulation under the watchful eye of an elderly professor?
The Commission of Inquiry found that chiropractic is an extraordinarily effective and unique health care system. The commission report strongly endorsed chiropractic services and called for medical cooperation. The impact of the Commission was positive not only in New Zealand but globally.
Fireworks Safety Campaign
Among many others, some obscure, some forgotten, there is one I must mention. A woman living in Petone, Beverley Pentland, was receiving some publicity for her opposition against fireworks which were responsible for many serious injuries, fires and terrorising animals. But Beverley was looking rather lonely and lost. She needed help. We called Beverly in and helped her write a financial grants application to ACC to fund a national fireworks safety campaign. Her application was duly granted and Beverley became the "Fireworks Lady". She kind of had a desk in our office and we helped her prepare press releases and media interviews (yes, we were naughty public servants!).
Our role was never revealed. And the rest is history!
Stretching and Warming Up for Sport
Simple and obvious as it might seem now but back in the '70s just how important warming up before lifting weights, running or playing a contact sport was not the norm and there was no consistent guidance about how to go about it.
I wrote a booklet on the topic and, along with a booklet by ACC on first aid, these were distributed free to as many citizens and organisations in NZ we could get them to. Hundreds of thousands of copies were freely distributed. Stretching and warming up became the norm as did first aid measures such as ICE (now known as RICE).
Why did I quit ACC in 1983?
ACC changed. It went from being led by a visionary to being dictated by a failed accountant who was there to carry out the agenda of his political masters. This was to loot ACC's future-funding investments so as to prop up the accounts of a Government that was going broke. Those who had any abilities worth selling left the sinking ship. ACC eventually went broke and had to be bailed out by the taxpayer.
So, what has any of this to do with COVID19?
I think it has a lot to do with the pandemic. Right now we have a serious problem: New Zealand is isolated from the rest of the world and our official escape plan, if you can even call it that, is deeply flawed. We need to find a better way to get out.
What has become clear to me and many others is there are now solutions available but for various reasons, including powerful vested interests and people in control who are not prepared to accept they might be wrong and need to change. People are frightened and confused. As a country, we are losing hundreds of millions every day and there is no end in sight. There is censorship and there is deliberate obfuscation of the facts. Even what I am writing is flagged as misinformation.
I am doing what I used to do at ACC. This is to make sense out of all of the noise, misinformation and confusion, to override vested interests and point a clear and practical way forward.
I'm writing this in stages because my first effort was hacked and deleted.
We can get out of out COVID19 prison and we can do so without losing a single more life to this virus. Keep in touch. There is more to come.
Part Three of our Escape Plan
Please read these articles about how to escape from our COVID19 Prison:
And these:
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