[Jerry Shaw]

Thank you for bringing your perspective, on all these different aspects of running and promoting a race track and race sanctioning organization, to our message board. You're a real asset to IOW and your streams of thought are always very well laid out and I always learn a lot by what you share.

Jerry

Originally Posted by kdobson Brutal honestly here from a different perspective... It's not that simple. First.... we have an ambulance at Jacksonville at every race. I value our partners at our local ambulance company. Nothing I say below is meant to disparage our valued ambulance company or the EMT's on it. When our ambulance leaves, they send another and we wait on it. Our firemen are EMT's too. All is good in that regard and I'm thankful and happy. BUT... I can see that at some point in the future it's not going to be that easy. There is no requirement that our local ambulance company agree to provide us service. Last year we had 2 ambulance companies in Jacksonville, IL ... and now we just have one. The rate for the ambulance arbitrarily went up 33% this year on the direction of the corporate office 3 hours away with the absence of competition. I initially contacted every other ambulance/volunteer rescue squad in the County looking for a suitable alternative. They don't have staffing to send an ambulance to a race track out of their coverage area every week. That was not an option. So the current ambulance company is here because at this point they fortunately can get enough people to work a shift to dedicate an ambulance to the race track. I'm happy to pay it - even if it's more. But a few years ago I operated a different race track in a larger town where there was only one ambulance service for the entire county. On some nights they simply could not get anyone to work that extra shift - even though they were offering overtime pay to do it. Fortunately at that track we had a world class fire department with a brush truck that had ALS equipment on board and 2 paramedics - one of whom was certified ALS. Our strategy out of necessity was that the firemen would call for the ambulance at the first sign of a transport situation - which was about a 7 min response time. The firemen's position was that under any circumstances it would take longer than that to prepare a person to transport. In that same city... when I could get an ambulance they wouldn't send an ALS ambulance. What was irritating was that as soon as anyone complained of head or neck pain - they couldn't be transported in the ambulance that was on site. The ambulance at the track would have to call for the ALS ambulance to transport anyway. Numerous times a person was placed in the ambulance at the track and be transported to the pit shack to wait on the other ambulance - then transfer the driver to the ALS ambulance for the 5 min trip to the hospital. Why did we even have an ambulance on site in the first place if it couldn't transport any potential head or neck injury anyway? Again, in that scenario I was comfortable because I had better EMT's and life support equipment on the fire truck than on the ambulance - when they could even find a staff to show up. But to the racers and racer's family - I was (understandably) the cheap SOB who didn't even have an ambulance at the race track. Back to Jacksonville - I live at the mercy of our ambulance company to be willing to schedule and send a crew. Thank goodness they always do. But I expect at some point in the coming years that might change. If they can't find a crew to staff an extra shift and sit at the race track all night - even for overtime pay - we won't have an ambulance no matter what I'm willing to pay for one. It's up to them. It's a business - and for a number of reasons it might not make business sense for them some day to dedicate an ambulance to sit at the track. Thank goodness we haven't gotten there yet. Again.... I think we need one with ALS equipment and staffing and will always do whatever I can to make that happen. But I can't pull one out of thin air. From the experience at the other track, I'm aware that I'm at the mercy of them wanting to come in the first place - and I just have a hunch that sometime down the road in years to come it's not going to be easy to get a crew to the track. I'm sure there are some tracks already in that situation. Finally... maybe this is the wrong thing to do... but the ride from the race track to the hospital 2 blocks and 2 minutes away costs over $1,000... even though I'm paying them to be there anyway. I've had numerous drivers complain of neck paid and go to the hospital taking a $1,000 ride and getting a few CAT scans etc... and they are back at the track to watch the feature and don't even know that they just incurred over $15,000 in medical/ambulance/radiology bills in the past 2 hours. Yes we have track insurance - and most people now have some form of health insurance. Track insurance pays last - after all other insurance sources have been exhausted. That time delay can and does result in hospitals/collection agencies often hounding you for payment for months as you get your insurance lined out. Even though it's covered - and I don't mind a bit if our insurance has to pay it - I've started at least making a spouse or relative aware prior to the person getting in the ambulance that they are embarking on a minimum $15,000 trip and to just be kind of sure that they need the treatment/trip before just getting hauled off. Again... that's not necessarily the 'right' thing to do... but there are some occasions where your neck might be a little stiff or you might be a little shaken where the full-fledged emergency trip to the ER isn't the wisest way to handle it. As a track promoter I struggle.. and I'm sure many others struggle.. with navigating the issues above.