Mike Murray
A policy would be difficult to make to cover all eventualities. Frankly
calling the emergency contact listed on the entry form may not be the most
efficient method, in part because many list not very useful things like
"Mike Murray" or their mother back in Chicago. We have often contacted
family members for people that are transported to the hospital either by
ambulance or by private vehicle, particularly when it is clear that the
person is going to be incapacitated. It is also very common for us to help
coordinate transportation by a friend or teammate. I think that each
individual situation requires evaluation and then an appropriate response.
This is complicated in the situation like last weekend when the EMS response
was activated by a bystander not associated with the race and details of the
crash and who was involved were not available until some time later when the
on the road officials return in with the still racing field. This is really
not a major problem. After all, a 2 hour wait for your wife to pick you up
at the ED is not all that big a deal in the grand scheme of things and is
probably part of doing business in this sport as well as many others. I can
tell you from personal and business experience that getting injured while
skiing is a much bigger deal, can cause a lot longer time and expense with
transportation and the ski area does not feel compelled to contact your
family.
Mike Murray
-----Original Message-----
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Galen Mittermann
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 14:21 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Cat 3 Crash
Without debating national health care policy here, does OBRA have a policy
on when to call the emergency contact listed on the waiver forms? I have
always been lucky enough to crash directly in front of my girlfriend, and
thus have had the 'friends and family' immediately present to haul my sorry
butt to and from medical care. If, however, I crashed and was hospitalized
at an OBRA event and was alone, I would hope that someone would give that
number on the form a ring and let them know that I was being shipped off.
Since current hospital policy is not to provide for transport once
discharged, can we as a community do a small part to see that the ball at
least has a chance to get rolling on taking care of our members after they
are released? I think that making sure that the emergency number gets called
and the contact informed is both sufficient and a minimum of community
responsibility, and it certainly is not unreasonable.
GM
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