The Championship Moment- A team victory, years in the making

There are a few moments in life where you find yourself in a place and wonder “just how did I get here”?  Finding myself standing next to the Stanley Cup was one of those moments.  Though I have had the opportunity to work with a number of elite and professional athletes, holding the iconic trophy was an unsurpassed moment in my career.  The opportunity to share that moment with my colleagues made it that much sweeter.

In 2014, when the National Hockey League began requiring Emergency Physician coverage at every game., our group, MedStar Emergency Physicians, answered the call to fill this role with our hometown Washington Capitals.  At the same time, MedStar Sports Medicine was assuming the contract for Primary Care and Orthopedic coverage for the team as well.  My partner, Dr. Liz Delasobera and I are both dual trained in EM and Primary Care Sports Medicine, and we were both eager to step into roles with the team.  With our EM colleagues Dr. Michael Antonis, Dr. Susie O’Mara and Dr. Cory Wittrock we began developing Emergency Action Plans for the arena and planning for game day coverage.

Over the past four years, Liz has moved into the role of Head Primary Care Physician for the team while I continue to lead the Emergency Care team with Susie and Cory (Mike has since moved on to complete a sports medicine fellowship himself!).  In addition to performing PPEs and providing routine care for the team and staff, we also train for on ice emergencies at least once a year- bringing our physician team, EMS, athletic trainers, equipment staff, and the ice crew together to prepare for the “worst case scenario” events.  We have also had the chance to help plan for two off-site outdoor games, the 2015 Winter Classic at Nationals Park, and the 2018 Stadium Series at the Naval Academy Stadium in Annapolis, MD.  These games involve revising our regular game-day operations as well as our EAPs.   These were also, quite frankly, amazing experiences for the physicians and fans in attendance.

Nothing could have prepared us though for the excitement that would overtake this city this spring as our beloved Caps marched through the playoffs this year.  A sea of red jerseys both inside the arena and outside grew steadily from an improbable come-back victory after several overtime games with Columbus, to a challenging series with our perennial nemesis, Pittsburgh.  And as we moved on past a tough Tampa Bay team, the excitement continued to build.  As the team went into Las Vegas the mood in Washington can only be described as electric—and we have hardly come down since.  We will spend the summer celebrating- but we have already started planning for next year and our role in the quest for back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships.

Dr. Liz Delasobera, Team Physician for the Washington Capitals was on the ice the night of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup win.

Dr. Cory Wittrock, Dr. Susie O’Mara, and Dr. Kori Hudson- the Washington Capitals Emergency Physician team-celebrating the season.

Kori Hudson, MD, FACEP, CAQ-SM