EMS Bicycle Team grabs a golden
opportunity to prove its value
By Steven Weigold, EMSCI #085
St. Clair Township-New Miami EMS (OH)
Every year for the last 21 years a
bicycle tour called the "Morning Glory Ride" has been held in Cincinnati.
The ride attracts as many as 2000 riders. The route is approximately 17 miles
long and passes through some of Cincinnati's most interesting and historic
neighborhoods. An optional 4-5 mile loop through Northern Kentucky is also
available. What makes this ride unique is the 4:00am starting time. It is
set up so that much of the ride is in the dark, but when the riders get to
the parts of town with the best views, the sun is rising. The ride concludes
with a catered breakfast at Serpentine Wall on the Cincinnati riverfront.
This is the first year I participated in the event, and therefore, I was
a bit unsure of what to expect. Since the majority of the ride was at night,
and I was not familiar with the route and its lighting, I opted to wear our
department EMS Bicycle Team Uniform. We recently added new Bratwear uniform
shirts to our ensemble, and while they are navy blue, they are outfitted
with a large retroreflective logo on the back and retroreflective striping.
I figured that I would look like a rolling reflective billboard to vehicles
behind me. Those who met me at the recent Tennessee instructor course can
probably appreciate that!
Since I had decided to wear the uniform for the ride, I concluded that I
should probably take along the gear bags. Since I was going to be representing
our department, it seemed only fitting that I have the equipment to do so
in a proper manner. Besides, our bags have extensive reflective striping
on them as well. As if that wasn't enough incentive to carry them, I figured
a 17-mile ride with fully loaded EMS bags - especially on the hills of Cincinnati
- would be good training.
Some of you may be thinking, "isn't this guy getting a little out of his
service area?" Maybe, but one of the things that makes our EMS Bike Team
unique is that we don't limit ourselves to just our department's immediate
coverage area. Our team regularly makes trips quite a distance to provide
EMS Bike coverage for events. We've deployed several counties away in the
past, including Cincinnati, so making the tour a real bike unit deployment
wasn't out of the question. I also concluded that riding the route as an
EMS unit would likely get the team some useful P.R. As it turned out, I wasn't
disappointed.
The ride itself was uneventful. Using proper spinning technique the hills
were bearable, even with a fully loaded bike. As you might imagine, I attracted
quite a bit of attention.
I left the starting line toward the end of the pack, with the idea that I
would be in the best position to find someone that needed my help. All of
the riders were courteous, and many made comments either to me, or about
me, generally implying that perhaps they should be riding near me. I assumed
it was because I could help them if they got injured, but now that I think
about it, it may also have been because I make a good candidate to draft
behind, at least from a size standpoint!
In any case, the scenery was beautiful, the ride enjoyable, and the route
well planned.
Things got interesting after the ride. As we were standing on the riverfront
enjoying our breakfast, I was approached by a woman asking about, of all
things, a golf cart. I think she thought I was a cop. They wanted the cart
to get an injured women to her car so she could be taken to the hospital.
She was described as "pretty beaten up." I explained that I had no idea where
a cart could be obtained, and then asked if anyone was helping the woman.
When she indicated no, I pointed out the loaded bike, and indicated I could
help. I think at that point it dawned on the woman what "EMS" means, and
I was all but dragged over to what turned out to be my patient.
As the story unfolded, I learned that the woman was descending one of the
last hills on the ride into town when she lost control of her bicycle and
crashed. It's still unclear as to how fast she was going, but considering
the hill in question, if she had not been wearing a helmet, I'm sure the
outcome would have been different. As it was, the helmet was obviously damaged.
She had crashed about a mile from the finish line, and had been assisted
into the sag wagon for a trip back to the start. She vehemently refused ambulance
transport, despite my recommendations and those of the sag wagon driver.
I was a bit surprised to find that a "21st annual" event for that many riders
did not have a highly visible degree of organized EMS coverage, but I pulled
on my gloves and got to work nonetheless. The woman's husband had gone to
retrieve the car, and since the woman fully intended to just ride to the
ER in the car, I focused on bleeding control and bandaging.
Her most severe external injury was a five centimeter long, "L"-shaped laceration
to her forehead that was visibly at least a centimeter deep. Other injuries
included a number of smaller lacerations and quite a few abrasions (can you
say "road rash"?). Some sterile water flushed the rocks and gravel out of
the injuries, direct pressure controlled bleeding, and by the time her husband
arrived with the family vehicle, I had the woman all but covered in white
and holding onto an ice pack. She said she "wanted to go to sleep," but was
alert and oriented, and she still refused an ambulance. They left for the
ER with my "do not pass go…" instructions ringing in their ears.
I got the P.R. I was seeking. Four different people took pictures of the
treatment in process. I'm still waiting to see if any of them make the paper.
Of even more value was the discussion with the sag wagon driver after the
patient departed. While I was busy cleaning up my biohazard, the driver and
I chatted. I learned that he was one of the ride planners, and to make a
long story at least a bit shorter, our team has been invited to "officially"
attend the 22nd annual Morning Glory Ride. It seems that those Williamson
Medical Center guys were right... sometimes it IS better just to show up,
rather than wait to be invited!
Steve can be reached at
sweigold@polezero.com.
Ed's Note: Nick Gatlin of the Williamson Medical Center EMS Bike Team in
Franklin, Tennessee, attributes much of his bike team's success to its tendency
to, in the early days, "just show up" at events, often on their own time.
It paid off; the team now does 60-80 events per year "on the clock" and is
in constant demand by the public. As described in the article that appears
What's a Bike Team Worth?, the Bike Team is now considered to be a valuable
public relations tool.
(C) 2002 IPMBA. This article first appeared in the Fall 2002 issue of IPMBA
News. |
