TacoMEDIC
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This call went down on 8/14/10, but i am new here so I figure it's better late than never.
It made National Headlines, so some of you may have already heard about it.
I was working with an event safety company for the MDR California 200 Night Race, a race that involves full size race trucks and buggies. The race was set to start at 1930hrs and we were pulling in right as it was getting started. I was hoping to get some sleep because I had just gotten off of a 96 hour shift at my primary job. My partner was all gung-ho and stated that he hoped that something serious would go down so he would get to play. I wish he never said that.
We show up at the start line to get comms all squared away and MDR officials tell us to wait until they get all the race vehicles off the line. No 5 minutes later we have the same race official come running up to the ambulance (because we have no comms yet) screaming at the top of his lungs that a race truck has just rolled into the crowd at the "rock pile" ( an area of the course that i have known to be pretty dense with spectators from past experience).
We haul *** toward the incident when I have a buddy call me on my personal phone screaming, "get here quick, man! there are people everywhere!". I asked for a little clarification and dig for some more constructive info so I can start some resources. No luck.
We get on scene 8 minutes later and just as my buddy stated... bodies everywhere. Absolute chaos. I'd love to rattle off a bunch of specifics, but it was kinda a blur from there. I called Comms Center and asked, "how many helicopters do you have withing a 100 mile radius?". After getting a baffled response, I added, "Send all of them!". 10 airships on the way.
We had 17 immediates, 24 delayed, and 4 DOA... not sure how many minor. Our nearest Trauma Center is 2-1/2 hours by ground. Nearest ER is 1 hour by ground. Nearest ground resource is 45 mins. No bueno. It doesnt matter how many MCI videos you watch, nothing works when you have 500 spectators yelling at you to help their friends and family and no PD to help with crowd control... Triage triage triage... that's all you can do.
When additional resources arrived, 2 more pts had deceased. I started delegating pts to responders and relinquished command to the Capt. Then it was treat treat treat, load pts to helicopters and ground ambulances and try to remember what the hell happened for reporting.
It took a little over 3 hours to get all pts transported. Total death toll was 8 by the end of the night. It was a mess. The media didn't help. And how tough you think you are, CISM is worth it...
Sorry I couldn't elaborate more. Official report will be coming out in JEMS soon. If you have any other questions, I'll be more than happy to ask.
-Matt
It made National Headlines, so some of you may have already heard about it.
I was working with an event safety company for the MDR California 200 Night Race, a race that involves full size race trucks and buggies. The race was set to start at 1930hrs and we were pulling in right as it was getting started. I was hoping to get some sleep because I had just gotten off of a 96 hour shift at my primary job. My partner was all gung-ho and stated that he hoped that something serious would go down so he would get to play. I wish he never said that.
We show up at the start line to get comms all squared away and MDR officials tell us to wait until they get all the race vehicles off the line. No 5 minutes later we have the same race official come running up to the ambulance (because we have no comms yet) screaming at the top of his lungs that a race truck has just rolled into the crowd at the "rock pile" ( an area of the course that i have known to be pretty dense with spectators from past experience).
We haul *** toward the incident when I have a buddy call me on my personal phone screaming, "get here quick, man! there are people everywhere!". I asked for a little clarification and dig for some more constructive info so I can start some resources. No luck.
We get on scene 8 minutes later and just as my buddy stated... bodies everywhere. Absolute chaos. I'd love to rattle off a bunch of specifics, but it was kinda a blur from there. I called Comms Center and asked, "how many helicopters do you have withing a 100 mile radius?". After getting a baffled response, I added, "Send all of them!". 10 airships on the way.
We had 17 immediates, 24 delayed, and 4 DOA... not sure how many minor. Our nearest Trauma Center is 2-1/2 hours by ground. Nearest ER is 1 hour by ground. Nearest ground resource is 45 mins. No bueno. It doesnt matter how many MCI videos you watch, nothing works when you have 500 spectators yelling at you to help their friends and family and no PD to help with crowd control... Triage triage triage... that's all you can do.
When additional resources arrived, 2 more pts had deceased. I started delegating pts to responders and relinquished command to the Capt. Then it was treat treat treat, load pts to helicopters and ground ambulances and try to remember what the hell happened for reporting.
It took a little over 3 hours to get all pts transported. Total death toll was 8 by the end of the night. It was a mess. The media didn't help. And how tough you think you are, CISM is worth it...
Sorry I couldn't elaborate more. Official report will be coming out in JEMS soon. If you have any other questions, I'll be more than happy to ask.
-Matt