To be honest. I don’t think this is even a case of putting in a rule. this is straight forward we need to make sure there is a protocol put in place to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again. And making sure sure that it is followed through with so nobody is in that position ever again.
I agree we should have a procedure for exec to follow when situations like this happen.I just think putting this in the rule book might help ensure that the procedure continues to be reviewed and followed, even when there is turnover in the executive.
Hi, Dave! First of all, we’re so happy that you’re slowly on the mend. There may be a couple of things that are missing from your position (I was in the ambulance with the crew) I had your phone with me while we were waiting for the AHS transport ambulance to arrive, to take you to the hospital, as I was planning on calling Cam. It rang in my hand, and our Doc chose to take the call so he could explain better than I could what had happened, and what the likely next steps would be. He explained that he suspected you would be transported to hospital ‘A’ based on your injuries. The transferring medic even confirmed that. Trev ended the call, and we performed the transfer. They wouldn’t tell us which hospital for sure they would be taking you to, it depended on what they saw of your risk while in transport. AHS transfer rarely tells us where they are taking the patient, and based on symptoms, it could change anyway. From here, you could blame me for not calling Cam again, but we had already reported all that we knew. If we had been given the opportunity to call after the transfer, we still would have given the same information, as that’s what we had been told at the time of transfer. The disconnect comes from AHS not communicating the destination, and they just don’t generally do that. Trev, the Dee’s and myself were occupied with prepping you for a transfer. I’m so sorry that Cam felt he’d been sent to the wrong hospital, I can’t imagine how frustrating and scary that must have been. For that, I am truly sorry. If we could have made it easier for him, we certainly would have.Posting this here rather than a letter directly to the exec as I feel this should be something the membership is aware of so it can be voted on at the AGM if necessary, or carried forward as something to be dealt with by the next voted in executive.
In July, unfortunately I had an incident in corner 2 at Stratotech where I required treatment by the ambulance crew, then an ambulance transfer to AHS. For perspective on my condition.
As I lay in ICU, being placed on life support for monitoring and into an induced coma (not posting this for sympathy or anything, just stating what type of serious position I was in), my husband was left calling all over the place trying to find out what hospital I had been taken to.
Frankly, after a major brain injury (which I have three weeks of lost memory from) I was certainly not in a state to reach out myself, and this is where somebody should have stepped in from the EMRA executive.
I had a Medical Data Carrier on my helmet with his contact information (phone number) as the rule book requires, and him listed as an emergency contact in MotorSportsReg (MSR) which is the registration system the EMRA uses.
I know from past experience (being part of the EMRA Executive team that implemented that system) that anyone with an admin login to that system and permissions to view that information (so the President, timing tower, and anyone else given access to MSR) can look up that information from a laptop or from a phone.
So this is where a failure in procedure occurred, either nobody looked up the information and called the emergency contact, or something similar occurred.
What I’m proposing as a new rule or rule change if one exists is that the emergency contact MUST be contacted by an EMRA race official / executive member, in the event of an ambulance transfer.
If the club isn’t contacting an emergency contact in the event of a crash and ambulance transfer, then frankly that defeats one of the purposes of requiring a Medical Data Carrier to be worn on every rider’s helmet, and the information to be to be entered at registration.
I know that the EMRA may be concerning themselves with trying to keep an event running, potentially dealing with other injured riders, but calling an emergency contact must be made a priority and scheduled quickly by whoever can look up the information from the registration system or medical data carrier.
I understand there may be concerns over upsetting that person, but anyone listed as an emergency contact or should be prepared to answer an urgent call about the status of the rider they are an emergency contact for. They should have the choice made available to them, to go to the hospital or not, depending on circumstances.
If a call is not made to that person, they cannot make that decision.
I feel this is a very important procedure to put in place, so that the right people are contacted in the event of a serious incident, and have the opportunity to respond depending on the severity.
For the record, I am very grateful to Dee and Dee for handling me so well during the ambulance transfer, I count myself very lucky to still be here, and be able to speak my mind on this topic.
When I expressed my concerns to the club president in mid-August I got a non sympathetic response. To add insult to injury I was told - “In the vast majority of cases a significant other or emergency contact is at the track with the injured rider” which was of poor taste and hurtful. An implication that I should have been at the track that Friday as an emergency contact rather than being at work.
The president said he did not have my contact information (which as Dave stated would be available on his phone through the registration system).
...the EMRA needs to do a better job to ensure this does not happen to other rider’s and their families in the future
I'm sorry you felt my reply was non sympathetic. That was not my intention. I ended our chat saying- I hope the information I gave gives you a better understanding of what went on. Take care of Dave and yourself, and thanks for reaching out. Stating "In the vast majority of cases a significant other or emergency contact is at the track with the injured rider" was made to point out the unique nature of this incident. I'm sorry that was taken by you to be hurtful.
I do not have access to Emergency contact information through MSR (registration system). I was also on track riding and first on scene to Dave’s crash for approximately 25 minutes, I would not have had access to my cell phone for this length of time. This can be added to the responsibilities of President. When Dave was President he had access to MSR because he was also part of registration.
Agreed, I think making it known to racers during riders meetings that it is the responsibility of the President and VP to make first contact. I also think we should make it known to racers that posting/spreading/volunteering personal information, no matter how well the intention, can lead to serious misinformation and cause more harm than good.
I do not feel this incident is unique due to the rider's emergency contact not being at the track. Do you know what percentage of rider's have their emergency contacts in attendance at all times when they are racing?
You're stating that it is the responsibly of the president to contact the emergency contact. However - you have suggest you not have access to emergency contact information, you are away from your phone for at least 25 minutes, and you failed to do so on July 23rd?
What if both the president and vice president are on track at the same time - and it takes them 25 minutes to get to their phone? I feel that the emergency contact needs to be notified sooner than that. If it's a developing situation the EMRA contact should be in continued contact with the emergency contact regarding the rider's care.
I do not feel this incident is unique due to the rider's emergency contact not being at the track. Do you know what percentage of rider's have their emergency contacts in attendance at all times when they are racing?
You're stating that it is the responsibly of the president to contact the emergency contact. However - you have suggest you not have access to emergency contact information, you are away from your phone for at least 25 minutes, and you failed to do so on July 23rd?
What if both the president and vice president are on track at the same time - and it takes them 25 minutes to get to their phone? I feel that the emergency contact needs to be notified sooner than that. If it's a developing situation the EMRA contact should be in continued contact with the emergency contact regarding the rider's care.
Not so much a rule change, but on the topic of improving safety anyway we can. I would like to see the EMRA incentivize racers to wear air bag systems. The effectiveness of airbags is without doubt. There mandatory use has been expanded by the FIM with the recent tragedies in Moto3 and 300WSS. The air bag systems acceptable for this incentive should meet the requirements set out by the FIM, found here:
https://www.fim-moto.com/fileadmin/..._for_the_Grand_Prix_Airbag_2018_version_2.pdf
The cost of this incentive will be offset by keeping riders safer and racing. I'd like to keep the incentive simple and easy to implement. My though is riders could get a 1 race discount code each round for wearing an air bag system. The list of discounted riders could be forwarded from registration to tech and checked during regular tech inspection.
I think it’s a pretty big ask to100% would support this initiative. I know it can be "cost prohibitive" for some, but so is loosing your life. And I have seen folks buy $1k+++ upgrades for the bike but NOT buy an airbag?!!
Yea... Make i propose they are made mandatory like many other organizations have already done.