Anyone at the Boston Marathon?

[medicdan]

Was anyone from the forum at the Boston Marathon today? I was a medical volunteer at an aid station on the course and on a sweep bus transporting runners from the course to the end medical tent, as well as helping them out when they were swamped.
What were your impressions of how things went this year?
The local news that covered the Marathon had this to say:

More Marathon Injuries, 3 Heart Attacks Reported
BOSTON (WBZ) ― A 26-mile race like the Boston Marathon can do a number on a runner's body.

Boston EMS reported treating 900 runners at its two medical tents set up along the race, which is more than in past years. They also said three people suffered heart attacks during the race.

They also reported seeing about 150 significant injuries suffered along the route, and about 60 people were transported to area hospitals.

Most of the incidents included dehydration, hyponatremia, a condition that occurs when there is not enough salt in the blood, and a few cases of hypothermia.

The sun played a part in the increased cases of exhaustion and dehydration this year.

In addition to Boston EMS' two tents, the American Red Cross had another 24, and DMAT supported another two, all along the course.
It continues to amaze me how the months of coordination work out so well.
What have your experiences been with the marathon this year?

 

[medicdan]

Was anyone from the forum at the Boston Marathon today? I was a medical volunteer at an aid station on the course and on a sweep bus transporting runners from the course to the end medical tent, as well as helping them out when they were swamped.
What were your impressions of how things went this year?
The local news that covered the Marathon had this to say:


In addition to Boston EMS' two tents, the American Red Cross had another 24, and DMAT supported another two, all along the course.
It continues to amaze me how the months of coordination work out so well.
What have your experiences been with the marathon this year?

Sorry for the confusion, that article can be found at
http://wbztv.com/bostonmarathon/boston.marathon.boston.2.705195.html

 

[KEVD18]

It continues to amaze me how the months of coordination work out so well.

worked out so well????? im sorry to sound rude, but are we talking about the same marathon?

it is by nothing but sheer luck that the marathon is largely tragedy free. it is by far the worst possible execution to the point of absurdity.

i have worked the marathon in varying capacities since attaining my emt ticket. as a volunteer for baa at one of the stations, on dedicated ambulances along the route and at the finish line. i have never experienced a bigger cluster F than the marathon.

three years ago, i was working one of the first aid stations(24). i had a patient that needed to be at the H badly. i cant remember what all the details other than their vitals were in the toilet and my oh poop meter was pegged. i utilized the proper channels to request an ambulance(i.e. having my stations ham radio operator make the request through the net). after 15min of waiting, i asked where my truck was. he replied he hasnt even gotten through yet. so i grabbed one of the cops walking by, he called it on the radio and my bus was there in 4min. thats one of the man y examples of how the systems in place are grossly inadequate.

 

[LucidResq]

Haha marathons suck to work. I did medical at the finish line of the Denver Marathon... it was raining and temps were hovering above freezing. The poor guys... all of their nipples were bleeding from chaffing. It took me a while to figure out what was going on.

About 10 people collapsed immediately after crossing the finish line. As long as they were conscious and uninjured we were instructed to load them into wheelchairs and rush them over to the medical tent.

From my perspective, things went pretty smoothly. Communications between the med tent and the people along the course were pretty shaky, though.

 

[medicdan]

worked out so well????? im sorry to sound rude, but are we talking about the same marathon?

it is by nothing but sheer luck that the marathon is largely tragedy free. it is by far the worst possible execution to the point of absurdity.

i have worked the marathon in varying capacities since attaining my emt ticket. as a volunteer for baa at one of the stations, on dedicated ambulances along the route and at the finish line. i have never experienced a bigger cluster F than the marathon.

three years ago, i was working one of the first aid stations(24). i had a patient that needed to be at the H badly. i cant remember what all the details other than their vitals were in the toilet and my oh poop meter was pegged. i utilized the proper channels to request an ambulance(i.e. having my stations ham radio operator make the request through the net). after 15min of waiting, i asked where my truck was. he replied he hasnt even gotten through yet. so i grabbed one of the cops walking by, he called it on the radio and my bus was there in 4min. thats one of the man y examples of how the systems in place are grossly inadequate.

Okay, I admit, I saw some mistakes this year. But after talking to one of the coordinators, it seems the ratio of mistakes that happen compared to the planning that went to prevent problems seems worth noting. I was at one of the many planning (and training) sessions with all the players (local hospitals, BAA folks, Red Cross, MEMA, FEMA, DMAT, BostonEMS, and the fire departments and ambulances of every town in eastern MA), and they worked a lot out.
At my med station this year, our sweep bus driver had an MI-- plannable event, NO, but it was handled well. We had a new bus (and driver) come, loaded up our runners and were on our way.

 

[Jon]

A huge event like the Boston Marathon is BOUND to be a cluster-:censored:... especially since it will always involve several EMS agencies, along with PD, and the marathon volunteers who are helping at water stations, as "marshals" along the course, helping with first aid, helping at the start/finish line, etc.

I've been working mass gathering EMS in Philadelphia for several years. I've worked the Philadelphia Marathon, the Pro Cycling Tour, the Philadelphia 4th of July festivities, an event secondary to Live 8, lots of 5K races, bike rides through Philly's parks, and lots of outdoor concerts and festivals of various sizes.

Over the last 5 years, 4th of July EMS communication has gotten A LOT better. The last 2 years, we've had our dispatch supervisor in the City's mobile command post, onsite. They assist the EMS chief, and depending on who is closer, we respond with Philly Fire medics to any known calls for service, as well as being on foot on the parkway "trolling for trauma". As the FD has started to put out medics on Segways and Bikes, they aren't staffing transport units... so we get to do that.

We still have 2 sets of medical tents, and although most of the EMS providers are on the same page, there are still personality conflicts and communication issues.


In short... there is no panacea. Any huge event is going to involve multiple agencies. To make it work, though, you need a good communications system (City radios, rental radios, or something else... not cell phones), and you need people on the other end of the radio who have a brain and some dispatching practice... Your EMS IC doesn't need to be doing all the radio work... there should be an experienced dispatcher coordinating that, going to the IC when they need to, but otherwise matching calls for service with available units (IE... what a dispatcher does every day). Additionaly, this dispatcher (or team) needs to be in contact with ALL resources, somehow.

One of our BIG events is a 6000+ rider 2-day bike ride fund raiser for the MS society. One of the things our company has done is set it up so that EVERY participant AND volunteer has a wristband with a phone number that goes to the event's EMS command center, which is in the same room as the main operation center, and where the Amateur Radio folks have their net control set up. Now, when someone needs EMS, they call the 10-digit number and we send the most appropriate units (us or 911). We can figure out roughly where they are on the course, and units responding KNOW where they are, rather than the rider calling 911 and saying "I'm at mile XX of the bike ride". We still have local police that call for local EMS, and we still get some 911 calls... but now there is a conduit for EMS activation that uses the event-specific resources (rather than pulling a small town's EMS squad) instead of having to tell riders to ride until they see a radio operator (which was the old way of doing things).

The wristbands also serve as event participant ID for the SAG buses, rest stops, and finish line parties.