RACE INFO
Medical
Protocols
A large contingent team from Netcare 911 will look after runners on race day
Runners tackling the 98th edition of the Comrades Marathon can rest assured that any medical need that may arise will be well taken care of, thanks to a team of 585 medical staff on duty on race day. The following information indicates what medical facilities will be provided by the Comrades Marathon Association( CMA), and what runners can do to help us, and to prevent themselves from ending up in a situation where they are in need of medical attention.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Netcare and Netcare 911 are partnering with the Comrades Marathon Association for the 24th year to provide emergency medical care for the runners. Their extensive race-day medical contingent, together with doctors’ and physiotherapy practices, will comprise:
• 80 paramedics
• 72 nurses, of whom 13 are from Netcare St Anne’ s Hospital, a level one trauma centre in Pietermaritzburg
• 343 physiotherapists
• 100 doctors
• 16 advanced life support ambulances
• 11 advanced life support rapid response vehicles
• Netcare’ s ICU medical configured emergency medical helicopter with specialised staff( on standby)
Many other supporters and spectators on the route traditionally offer runners help
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1 MEDICAL RESOURCES
• 4 medical motorbikes
• A medical quad bike
• 17 joint operating centre, logistics and IT staff.
Participating hospitals include Netcare Alberlito, Netcare Kingsway, Netcare Margate, Netcare Parklands, Netcare St Annes, Netcare St Augustine’ s, Netcare The Bay and Netcare Umhlanga Hospitals, while Netcare Diagnostics Point of Care pathology testing technology will be used.
All of these medical resources will be controlled from the Medical Joint Operations Control Centre( JOC), based at the finish, which will despatch vehicles as and where necessary. It is important to note that all calls for medical assistance for runners should be made to the Netcare 911 medical emergency number 082 911. These calls will then be routed directly to the Medical JOC. Netcare 911 are our contracted medical emergency service provider, so no other emergency services are permitted be on the route.
2 ON THE ROUTE
A substantial part of the Netcare 911 team listed above will be stationed on or roaming along the route on race day. This will allow them to respond quicker to any medical emergencies that may arise during the race. In addition to mobile medical staff, there will also be types of stationary medical assistance:
MEDICAL STATIONS( FIRST AID STATIONS)
Eight Netcare medical stations will be set up along the route where runners will find Netcare 911 advanced life support paramedics, ambulances and nurses to render medical assistance. These first aid stations will be able to stabilise runners till the arrival of an ambulance, but will also assess and treat minor wounds, such as from falls, and also check runners’ blood sugar and blood pressure levels. If they assess a runner and feel they shouldn’ t carry on, they will inform the runner.
PHYSIO STATIONS
There are eight physio stations on route manned by qualified physiotherapists and thirdyear physio students, who will treat minor problems like cramping, administer massaging, and strap injuries.
Please note: The Physio and First Aid stations will be situated together, and can be found on the route map in this magazine.
Images: Kirsten Oliver, Richard Dobbin, Comrades marathon & Courtesy Netcare 911