OT: Ambulance
 

Here is a general question. Would anyone race at a track that didn't provide an ambulance for the evening?

Re: OT: Ambulance
 

When I raced at the Miami County Fairgrounds track back in the early and mid 1990's I never saw an ambulance. I can't say for sure they didn't have one but if they did I never saw it. It never really bothered me though.

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We raced at Manzanita for the last 10 years with no ambulance...lol

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In this day and age , I can't see how any tracks insurance provider would allow it to run without an ambulance present....JMO

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COULD BE LIKE OLE THE DA AMBULANCE ...COMES IN WITH A EARLS SPEED SHOP LICENSE PLATE ON FRONT OF IT...I JUST WONDER IF THEY WERE REALLY EMTs...THINK IT EVEN CAME FROM THE HOUSE IN FRONT OF THE TRACK I THINK THE SO CALLED EMTS SHOWED UP THEN DROVE THE DA AMBULANCE FROM THE HOUSE.....WINDY HOLLOW HAS A AMBULANCE SITTING OVER NEXT TO THE DRAGSTRIP ...MAKES IT LOOK GOOD...LOL

Re: OT: Ambulance
 

I wouldn't race knowing what can happen. Of course I raced go-carts for quite awhile and we never had an ambulance standing by.

I have told this story before, but given the topic I'll tell it again.

First of all, what I found out was that just because there is a crash wagon there at the track, does not mean that there is anything in it. Case in point.... Many years ago I broke my leg at Kokomo in a sprint car, and this was back when Lipkey's owned it. It was a bit of a fiasco getting me out of the car to start with. I told them that I had broken my left leg just above my ankle. They were lifting me out of the cage from the top when I yelled "stop for a minute. You guys need to grab the bottom part of my leg or it's just going to dangle." So they held the bottom part of my leg and then carried me over to the "ambulance." They sat me down on the ledge of the open sliding door to the crash wagon. Then after they hauled off the torn up race car, they put me on this old gurney and put me back in the "ambulance" from the rear. They then took me to the pit gate where another Ambulance came and picked me up. Of course at that point I had to go through another painful experience changing gurneys. The ambulance drivers said, "So which hospital to you want to go to?" I said, "I don't know, which one is better?" Well they didn't want to answer that, so I said "take me to the closest one then."

My point is this, just because there is an ambulance on the property does not mean there is anything more than a gurney to take you to the pit gate to wait on the real ambulance.

BTW, in the end we called Methodist and got a hold of Dr. Terry Trammel who said to bring him down. I was so lucky to get the best in the business. He saw me at 3am, looked at my films and said we will do surgery at 10am because in his words "I ain't worth a damn right now and sleepy. I'll see you later and get some rest." In surgery he put a titanium rod down through the middle of my left leg bone from an opening he made at my knee cap. He drove the rod down and then through the other end that was broken. Then he secured both ends with some screws. After a year of swimming every day and eventually riding a stationary bike, he took me back in and removed the hardware. We could have left it in, but he said "as long as you race, you could break that leg again and bend that rod and I'll have a hell of a time getting it out of there." He was a great guy with some great common sense.

If god forbid any of you ever get hurt and have broken bones... get to Methodist in Indy and ask for his group.

Be safe, but go fast. That phrase really does not go together does it! LOL.

George Wilkins

Re: OT: Ambulance
 

I do not race, but I attend many races a year. Concerning ambulances, I have often wondered about the strange practice of putting the driver in one ambulance and then transferring him/her to another one. This is very time consuming and puts the driver at risk of more injury while being transferred between vehicles. Tri-State Speedway does it right. There are always two ambulances present, and when an accident occurs, the ambulance is there immediately. If the driver requires transportation, they are right there to do it. There is no delay and the driver is put at less risk.

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Just another reason why, it is "THE CLASS TRACK".

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I may be wrong but I don't think the ambulances transport from TSS, I am prety sure they always call for another ambulance for transport to the hospital.

Re: OT: Ambulance
 

Burg has always had at least two ambulances and sometimes three. Bobby Gomph and others are EMTs and take pride in training, They have purchased their own Jaws of Life and other tools. they take their time and do a thorough job if the drivers have the mindset to let them do their job (I truelly believe that this can prevent further or worse injury than sustained in a accident). they also have a firetruck loaded with foam. Also the track has a helipad I don't know how fast they could get to The Burg but they reached Dilsborro IN which is 20 miles further in 12 minutes from disspatch for a accident I was in some years back from Cincinnati's University.

This isn't a knock at any track or crew, Just pride in having such caring people at your local track that often helps at others.

Re: OT: Ambulance
 

Back in the early 80's we were at a super latemodel race at Shadybowl Speedway in DeGraff, OH. Back then they still had one of those old Cadilac ambulances. Buster Blackford crashed HARD into the turn 1 wall. He climbed out of the car and didn't want bothered, said he was ok.

Well, the track insisted he go in and get checked out, so they got him to lay down on the gurney, strapped him on, slid him up into the back of the ambulance, turned on the siren and red lights and took off real fast up the slight banking to the drive way to go to the hospital,,and,,lol the back door wasn't latched and came open. Here comes Buster rollin out the back of the ambulance, strapped to the gurney, and rolls down the race track and in the process, breaks an arm. The ambulance was clear at the end of the drive way before they noticed they had lost him.

It ended up the only injury he had was the broken arm from rollin out of the ambulance and, he vowed then and there,, he would NEVER get in another ambulance at Shadybowl Speedway again.

So, not all ambulances are good ambulances!! :5::5:

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Thanks for posting that story!! It is by far the funniest thing I've heard today! Glad to see the driver was okay! I don't know what I'd do if I saw that!

Re: OT: Ambulance
 

What an insightful question...and interesting responses. It is a crying shame that this question still needs to be asked and answered. Someone mentioned the role of the insurance companies...they have had the opportunity to play a huge positive role and thus far, have largely squandered it. I had a conversation several years ago with the rep from an insurance company that covers racing and asked what their definition of "fire protection" is...after a few minutes of stuttering and stammering, I was told if you "had about a dozen extinguishers on site, that was ok"...in my opinion, not a good answer.

Sometimes in racing, we are our own worst enemies. We settle for situations that are not in our best interest...we act as if nothing bad will happen. Guess what...bad things do happen. Bad things happen when we are prepared totally....bad things happen when we are not...and even if we are prepared, tragedies can occur. All of us know that the odds of tragedies happening when we are well-prepared are far less than not. Every race I work as a safety team member, I wear CarbonX underwear (long sleeved), a double layer firesuit, CarbonX gloves and socks and shoes, and a helmet (usually full face with a skirt)...could I wear less and be cooler?, sure could...and if someone I am there to help is compromised, or if I get hurt, because I was not wearing proper equipment, that is not ok. My first training session as a firefighter resulted in me getting significant burns because of inadequate equipment...promised myself then I would never let that happen again. I continue to train, research, and teach, and work at racing safety. That is what professionals do.

We can not rely on rules...we can not rely on insurance companies...we can not rely on state, federal, or local regulations...we need to rely on our own knowledge/experience and the knowlege/experience of professionals in racing safety. Read trade magazines...talk to vendors...talk to the safety team and EMS team at the tracks you run...make sure promoters know that you are concerned about having appropriate responses to on-track incidents.

Sorry I got a little wordy...but I care about making our sport as safe as we can...you folks are worth the trouble!

is that the floor dry crew that spreads floor dry on a dirt track for a little oil spill...1 spin 10 trucks around it looks like a president escort
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Re: OT: Ambulance
 

The ambulance at a track doesn't really bother me because most tracks I've raced at has one. The thing that scares me is not having a fire crew or fire truck. Running mini sprints, the only track I've raced at that has a firecrew is Lawrenceburg.

Kinda wish the result of the Wolfgang suit would have required a fire crew at all racetracks..

Re: OT: Ambulance
 

You'd want em there if it was you in trouble Lloyd, I seen a over a hour feature at Bloom last friday. so to harp on one track :)