Thread by @DrJohnOrchard

I’m very proud and grateful to be named an AM in the 2020 Australia Day Honours list. Sincere thanks to all who have passed on congratulations and to collaborators in research & sports safety lobbying over the years

I’m lucky to have chosen to work in Sport & Exercise Medicine at a time when professional sport, in particular, has rapidly evolved to appreciate the value of high level specialist medical care and been very open to improvements in sport safety

The sports I’ve worked with, particularly cricket, AFL and rugby league, have been at the forefront of improvements to player safety with rule changes and funding higher levels of medical care, and I’m privileged to have had a part to play

Back in 2000, cricket instituted a boundary rope because of recommendations we made in our official injury reports to prevent player ankle injuries from sliding into the fence whilst fielding pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16769247-injur…

AFL injury reports in early 2000s showed high rate of PCL injuries in ruckmen, which led to centre circle rule to limit run up for ruckmen and reduced knee PCL injuries pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19850572-decre…

Work with the AFL on ground conditions and knee ACL injuries led to a slight decrease in ACL injuries in 2000s onwards compared to 1990s
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23460329-resul…
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16183765-rye-g…
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12015804-is-th…

Advocacy from myself and others in the NRL led to banning of shoulder charge tackles in rugby league. Not popular with players at the time but agreed now to have been important for safety
theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/doct…

AFL injury research showed association of muscle strains with high interchange rotations and these have also generally dropped since the sub rule then interchange cap introduced
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23460329-resul…
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22197066-relat…

More recently Cricket Australia has shown very strong advocacy in concussion policy and was first country to introduce concussion subs, now part of the rules for all international cricket matches pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30444677-incid…
abc.net.au/news/2013-11-2…

I’ve published over 300 research studies in the Sports and Exercise Medicine field over 30 years, and thank all co-authors especially @jessicajorchard scholar.google.com.au/citations?user…

@jessicajorchard What does the future hold? Hopefully better recognition for the field of SEM under Medicare smh.com.au/sport/australi…, national registries of major sporting injuries like ACLs pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29716512-the-r… and Defibrillators at all community sporting grounds nsw.gov.au/news-and-event…

@jessicajorchard @threadreaderapp unroll please