A few weeks ago at one of our 5k events the organization that hired my company told me that they did not want to hire para medics for their 5k due to the cost. Now you have to understand that when I am hired to manage a race the first thing i do is put together a budget estimation so each and every event knows up front what these road races will cost. Under medical I have 2 para medics. Cost $160. My wife Barb handles ALL medical issues for me. She arranges to have para medics at all our events. Especially in the heat of summer. For the City of Wilmington events she deals directly with Cheif Kalanowski of the Wilmington Fire Dept. Emails go back and forth and we get a final email stating which two para medics will be there and at what time. For this event the organization said they had a nurse who could handle medical. Now ....don't get me wrong. This just does not cut it. I told these folks that they ok'ed the budget when they hired us and that a nurse is not going to handle an emergency and would just call 911. They did ok the expense and the para medics were at this event. Wouldn't you know it.....a runner goes down at the finish line with an asthma attack. The nurse standing by watched as the para medics went into action. They put on an oxygen mask to help this person breath and she ended up scared but ok. The nurses comment to me, "thank god the para medics were on hand." With 32 years of experience I can say that things can and do go wrong at a road races and for $160 you just can't justify NOT having para medics there. Like my Barb says...."better to be safe than sorry." BTW....this is my
100th blog and counting.