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> Hello all, as a recent subscriber to this list I have been reading this > thread with interest. It was bought home particularly today, by the > tragic accident at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. A driver lost his > life and two marshals were seriously injured. The event was covered > medically by the BARC, who were there for the participants, Sussex > Ambulance who had paramedics mainly for the crowd, but also to transport > any seriously injured to the local hospital and the St Johns who were > also there for the crowd. Are you sure that the Doctors were part of BARC. At the Motor racing events I attend the medical cover is along the following lines. 1. St Johns 2. County Ambulance 3. Rescue units owned by people like BARC or BRDC etc (the motor racing clubs) These are staffed by exmarshalls with lots of additional training in extrication / medical care etc. They have all been excellent when I have worked with them. 4. The doctors These are employed by the circuit rather than any of the above. The club who is hiring the circuit for the days racing pays for the medical services, of which the doctors are one part. They are organised from the circuit medical centre, rather than by the racing club or the rescue units. The doctors are distributed between the medical centre, the rescue units, the FD (fast doctor) car, and high risk spots on the circuit. There are occasional training days, but some people will have little prehospital or extrication experience. In fact, in a similar way to the apprentice method suggested by BASICS some years back, I have unashamably used it as a place to learn much more about prehospital care. Especially as it is a relatively controlled environment, well staffed and you always have back up (within 2 mins) from an experienced race doctor.The circuit I attend requires at least 4 docs present for racing to take place (there are usually 5 or 6), but for meetings such as Superbikes there is a minimum of 11 docs!!!!! This should be borne in mind if we decide that only BASICS docs or equivalent can be used - in reality it is not possible at the present time. It relies on making the numbers up with MB.ChB's yet ensuring that there are at least 2 people with the appropriate skills and experience. As help in the form of the FD car can arrive in less than 2 mins (max) together with 2 rescue vehicles this is probably OK (IMHO). I agree that appropriate skills are needed as I have attended 2 incidents involving spinal injury this year and there has been one death, but whether it is essential that everyone has all the skills to the highest level at a motor racing cicuit is questionable. In terms of registration, I am a member of the RAC as a registered doctor. Surprisingly this is not essential, and it appears that the only qualification required is just being a doctor. 5. The paramedics There are paramedics on a county ambulance for the big meetings. However, there are regular paramedic "enthusiasts" and some employed directly by the circuit, who work regularly at the circuit, with the same docs who regularly attend. The elements of familiarity and experience are therefore in place for good teamwork. This of course is only possible at a regular event - Goodwood was not - which may have led to some of the problems mentioned. 6. Helicopter Only at big events 7. Mobile Resus van For touring cars meetings I read with interest the comments regarding appropriate experience. Most of the people I work with at the circuit have an anaesthetics, A+E, or surgical background. They are all enthusiastic about the racing and get "paid" about £80-100 for the day (8am-7pm). In other words, you'll only get enthusiasts at that price (I'd do it even if they did not pay because I love the racing!) Motor racing is an excellent environment to learn / experience prehospital care in a relatively controlled environment. I encourage my fellow SpR's in A+E to come down and join in, some of whom are now joining in. It's only really worth doing if you love the racing, but if you do, it's a great day out - and you might learn something. Simon Carley (yet to get his picture in Autosport) SpR in Emergency Medicine Manchester Royal Infirmary Manchester %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%