NASCAR addresses crash-response concerns, hires own EMT
By Chris Jenkins, USA TODAY
CONCORD, N.C. — For a race car driver who has been hurt in a crash, seeing a familiar face can be reassuring. Beginning this season, the first responder to a serious crash usually will be NASCAR's own emergency medical technician.
NASCAR's EMT will travel with the Nextel Cup Series every week and team with a NASCAR official in the "chase vehicle" that instantly leaves pit road after a crash. The move, coupled with NASCAR's decision in the middle of last season to prevent drivers from racing each other after a caution flag is issued, should make accident response— occasionally a sore subject among drivers — faster and better.
The EMT's hiring comes in response to recent driver criticism of tracks' local safety workers, but it is not the first step toward hiring a full-time traveling safety team similar to those employed by other racing series. Racetracks will continue to hire local rescue workers to work race weekends, and NASCAR officials are taking steps to improve local workers' training.
"It's definitely a step in the right direction," driver Tony Stewart said. "While it's not a traveling safety team, I'm still proud of NASCAR."
Stewart and Jeff Gordon have lobbied NASCAR to hire its own safety team. Several drivers believe other series' teams are superior to NASCAR tracks' local workers. The CART series' safety team was credited with saving the life of driver Alex Zanardi in 2001.
In August, Ryan Newman's car flipped during a practice session at Watkins Glen International. Newman sat upside-down in the car for more than a minute before safety workers arrived. Once they did, Newman said, "they didn't have a clue what to do." At the same track two days later, Jeff Gordon got stuck in post-race passenger car traffic during an ambulance ride; Gordon called it "ridiculous." Neither Gordon nor Newman was injured seriously.
NASCAR officials, however, still say local EMTs are the best people to work at tracks because they work trauma cases every day and are familiar with local hospitals and doctors. NASCAR hired its own EMT to build relationships with drivers and help improve coordination between NASCAR officials and local EMTs, doctors and hospital staffs at each racetrack.
With several races at tracks of more than a mile in length, the chase vehicle, which is stationed at the end of pit road, won't always be the first vehicle to reach an accident scene. Local workers still will play a major role in rescue efforts, so NASCAR is beefing up efforts to train tracks' local workers. The number of workers depends on the size of the track, but it could be up to 150.
"We're trying to make sure that everything we do in the emergency aspects of the business are consistent and professional from track to track, because that is what our drivers expect," NASCAR vice president of communications Jim Hunter said. Wary of the media attention given to other racing series' medical directors, Hunter was not willing to provide the EMT's name.
NASCAR's new safety initiatives, which will be discussed Wednesday in a news conference at its research and development center in suburban Charlotte, also will include giving drivers the chance to take a computerized test that can help determine the severity of head injuries.
The ImPACT test is administered to healthy drivers on a laptop computer, measuring a driver's mental ability and reaction time to establish a baseline score. If a driver is injured, he can be retested and doctors can compare his baseline to his post-injury score to determine whether he has recovered fully.
The test, which is used by other racing series and pro sports teams and already was being used by a handful of NASCAR teams, will not be mandatory
By Chris Jenkins, USA TODAY
CONCORD, N.C. — For a race car driver who has been hurt in a crash, seeing a familiar face can be reassuring. Beginning this season, the first responder to a serious crash usually will be NASCAR's own emergency medical technician.
NASCAR's EMT will travel with the Nextel Cup Series every week and team with a NASCAR official in the "chase vehicle" that instantly leaves pit road after a crash. The move, coupled with NASCAR's decision in the middle of last season to prevent drivers from racing each other after a caution flag is issued, should make accident response— occasionally a sore subject among drivers — faster and better.
The EMT's hiring comes in response to recent driver criticism of tracks' local safety workers, but it is not the first step toward hiring a full-time traveling safety team similar to those employed by other racing series. Racetracks will continue to hire local rescue workers to work race weekends, and NASCAR officials are taking steps to improve local workers' training.
"It's definitely a step in the right direction," driver Tony Stewart said. "While it's not a traveling safety team, I'm still proud of NASCAR."
Stewart and Jeff Gordon have lobbied NASCAR to hire its own safety team. Several drivers believe other series' teams are superior to NASCAR tracks' local workers. The CART series' safety team was credited with saving the life of driver Alex Zanardi in 2001.
In August, Ryan Newman's car flipped during a practice session at Watkins Glen International. Newman sat upside-down in the car for more than a minute before safety workers arrived. Once they did, Newman said, "they didn't have a clue what to do." At the same track two days later, Jeff Gordon got stuck in post-race passenger car traffic during an ambulance ride; Gordon called it "ridiculous." Neither Gordon nor Newman was injured seriously.
NASCAR officials, however, still say local EMTs are the best people to work at tracks because they work trauma cases every day and are familiar with local hospitals and doctors. NASCAR hired its own EMT to build relationships with drivers and help improve coordination between NASCAR officials and local EMTs, doctors and hospital staffs at each racetrack.
With several races at tracks of more than a mile in length, the chase vehicle, which is stationed at the end of pit road, won't always be the first vehicle to reach an accident scene. Local workers still will play a major role in rescue efforts, so NASCAR is beefing up efforts to train tracks' local workers. The number of workers depends on the size of the track, but it could be up to 150.
"We're trying to make sure that everything we do in the emergency aspects of the business are consistent and professional from track to track, because that is what our drivers expect," NASCAR vice president of communications Jim Hunter said. Wary of the media attention given to other racing series' medical directors, Hunter was not willing to provide the EMT's name.
NASCAR's new safety initiatives, which will be discussed Wednesday in a news conference at its research and development center in suburban Charlotte, also will include giving drivers the chance to take a computerized test that can help determine the severity of head injuries.
The ImPACT test is administered to healthy drivers on a laptop computer, measuring a driver's mental ability and reaction time to establish a baseline score. If a driver is injured, he can be retested and doctors can compare his baseline to his post-injury score to determine whether he has recovered fully.
The test, which is used by other racing series and pro sports teams and already was being used by a handful of NASCAR teams, will not be mandatory
