A role in the London 2012 Olympic Games

Published: 14 November 2012

JP Nolan reflects on his two-year experience working for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

I worked for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) full time for two years in preparation for the events this summer.

It was my job to plan the provision of medical services across the whole of the Olympic Park, so I was responsible for deciding what size and capacity of medical room was required for each sporting venue, plus how many staff and what equipment was needed to make sure athletes and spectators were as safe as possible.

It was stressful and rewarding in equal measure. I’m unlikely to do anything in my career again of that scale and intensity and there were times when the significance of the role really hit me. We held more than 100 simulation exercises to ensure we were ready for every eventuality, be that terrorist attacks, freak weather conditions or extreme overcrowding.

But it was working on the night of the opening ceremony that really made the shivers of excitement run up my spine. The memory of world-class athletes walking past me to enter the stadium and saying “thank you” will stay with me forever. It was a full-on experience. Exhilarating, exciting, exhausting. The Games went by in a blur but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

In terms of a nursing legacy I will be working on ways that nursing staff can transfer their skills into service design and planning. Also I will be looking at the creation of a postgraduate qualification in sports and exercise nursing.