MEDICAL
GOT YOU COVERED
Here’ s a breakdown of the medical facilities and staff that will be provided on race day by the Comrades Marathon Association( CMA) and its medical partners, ensuring that runners are well looked after from start to finish.
Images: Comrades Marathon Association & courtesy Netcare 911
1 MEDICAL RESOURCES
Runners tackling the 99th edition of the Comrades Marathon can rest assured that any medical need they may experience will be well taken care of. Netcare and Netcare 911 are partnering with the Comrades Marathon Association for the 25th year to provide emergency medical care for the runners, and a huge team of local medical staff and volunteers will be working on the route and at the Finish venue. In total, a team of more than 830 medical staff and volunteers will be on duty on race day:
• 74 Doctors – including 10 from Netcare Johannesburg
• 73 Nurses – including 12 from Netcare St Anne’ s Hospital, a level one trauma centre in Pietermaritzburg, who will be managing the ICU section of the Main Medical Tent at the Finish.
• 264 Physiotherapists
• 80 Paramedics – including 18 from KZN FECC
• 30 Paramedical students – including 18 from KZN FECC
• 4 Netcare motorbikes medics
• 2 Netcare quad bike medics
• 31‘ Runners’( helpers) in the Main Medical Tent
• 250 Stretcher-bearers from Maritzburg College, St Charles College and Northwood Schools( with teachers to assist with overseeing them)
• 12 Joint Operating Centre( JOC), logistics and IT staff
In addition, the medical facilities on race day will include:
• 8 Medical stations on route
• 8 Physiotherapy stations on route
• 16 Netcare advanced life support ambulances
• 12 Netcare advanced life support rapid response vehicles
• 4 Netcare motorbikes
• 2 Netcare quad bikes
• 1 Netcare ICU medical configured emergency medical helicopter with specialised staff( on standby)
• 1 Main Medical Tent at the Finish venue, with 190 beds and 5 ICU beds
• 1 Satellite Medical Tent at the Finish venue
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.
2 EMERGENCY NUMBER
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.( Runners and spectators can also approach Netcare 911 staff and race marshals along the route for assistance.) These calls will then be routed directly to the Medical JOC.
All runners and those seconding them are urged to download the Netcare app ahead of the race, as this app has a Netcare 911 emergency call and geolocation function, as well as a 60-second call-back option. At the swipe of a button, it lets the Netcare 911 team find you and get to you with the medical help you need.
Netcare 911 is the contracted medical emergency service provider for the event, so no other emergency services are permitted access to the route.
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