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Yesterday (Thursday) was a busy day for the Thunderbirds. As a matter of fact, according to Medical Director, Dr. Adrian Cohen, "It was the busiest day for the medical unit in Eco-Challenge history. Below are some of the highlights from yesterday:
Team Right-Angle Turn’s Cammie Crampton-Sexton, 28, from North Carolina, suffered a neck injury and was evacuated by helicopter for a precautionary CT scan. She’s very lucky not to have sustained permanent paralysis."
"Eric Resurreccion, 31, of Team Go from New York, crashed on a steep downhill section of the mountain bike course sustaining a closed-head injury. In order to access him in inaccessible terrain, the medical rescue team rappelled from a helicopter hovering 100-feet above him. This is the first time we have had to perform such a relatively high-risk technique in order to access a patient," says Dr. Cohen.
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The medical team launched another response to Chris Andrews, 29, of Team Northstar from Minnesota, who was suffering dehydration and heat exhaustion in the extreme conditions that typifies this part of Borneo. Due to limited access, a paramedic was able to commandeer a four-wheel drive motorbike to traverse the steep hills and meter deep mud to provide intravenous re-hydration.
In addition to the on course emergency rescues, the unit field hospitals were working to capacity at Silam and in the Borneo Rainforest. Over 200 competitors have been treated for a multitude of lacerations, abrasions, blisters, leech bites, ulcers, fungal infections and, what can best be described as, trench foot – chronically water-logged tissue following days of immersion in ocean and rivers.
To date over 10 competitors have required intravenous re-hydration, using close to 50 litres of saline.
3M Medical Report - An Interview with Dr. Adrian Cohen
Dr. Adrian Cohen heads the medical team that treats injured athletes at each year's Eco-Challenge. Here's some of his insights into past events and what his team is trained to do.
Q: What's the coolest or most unusual piece of equipment your team uses?
A: A match box-sized Pulse Oximeter for testing blood oxygenation and a GPS which fits on the wrist.
Q: What's the most intense situation you had to deal with in the Eco-Challenge in Morocco two years ago?
A: Definitely three things come to mind: 1. The water rescues. It's a tribute to some of our more specialized paramedics, like Paul Newland, who not only performed 8 rescues from the helicopter -- including being winched from the water -- but over 20 surf rescues with the California lifeguards from the beaches. 2. At the end of Day 2 (the finish of the sea kayak leg), we had over one dozen hypothermic immersion vistims in one hour; with seven seriously ill. 3. Rescuing racers -- from some precarious perches -- who had succumbed to altitude sickness.
Q: In what other situations could your teams' experience be applicable?
A: We specialize in both medical and rescue elements of events. Those in the more remote areas are our forte.
Where stunts are done for film and TV, it's no longer good enough to have a stunt coordinator and a unit nurse.
Q: What kind of equipment does your team work with?
A: That's easy:emergency medical packs first response packs multi channel ecg monitor portable bp monitor cardiac monitor (defibrillator) pulse oximeter syringe infusion pumps transport ventilator stretchers mast suit limb splints portable oxygen & fittings portable suction unit dive rescue equipment spinal immobilisation devices stiff neck collars extrication splints jordan lifting frame
3M Medical Report - Introducing the Thunderbirds
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From a medical and safety standpoint, Eco-Challenge Sabah will have less hypothermia, less altitude sickness, less mountain rescues and less coastal rescues than last year's Eco-Challenge Argentina. However, in this year's jungle expedition adventure, the key medical concern will be dehydration due to humidity and temperature extremes and the dense Borneo jungle.
In this year's Eco-Challenge, as with years previous, if any racer becomes injured, they fall into the capable hands of Dr. Adrian Cohen and his Thunderbird Medical Team. They can go anywhere an athlete can.
When an athlete gets hurt or needs medical assistance, it's most likely the end of the road for the team as competitors, but that's when the Eco-Challenge emergency medical team jumps into action. Dubbed, the Thunderbirds, these mobile medics have performed ocean rescues and mountain top evacuations. In short, they can go anywhere.
A normal call would see the Thunderbirds treat a patient on-scene then supervise their med-evacuation to one of this year's two base camps equipped with a medical facility. Once stabilized, more seriously injured patients are airlifted to Kota Kinabalu to Sabah Hospital.
By the way, the Thunderbirds were also on-hand during "Survivor," the hit TV series also from Eco-Challenge race organizer Mark Burnett. In fact, the Thunderbirds service many adventure races around the world.
Here is a quick breakdown of some medical highlights from past Eco-Challenges:
1. Australia -- 16 ocean helicopter rescues, thousands of blisters, and stinging trees, which can leave residual pain for up to six months.
2. Morocco -- many "gastro" cases, 18 ocean helicopter rescues, dehydration and altitude sickness.
3. Patagonia -- many cases of hypothermia, blizzard rescues and trauma.
The Eco-Challenge medical team is also responsible for non-race personnel such as production crews. And that means hundreds of more people to look after. Some of the situations for these people range from exhaustion to dehydration to exposure and sunburn.
To access some of the extreme emergency locations here on-course, Dr. Cohen and his Thunderbirds have, at the ready, one of four helicopters that can be called into action.
These choppers are used for medical team transfers, to access patients and to extricate them from the field to the base camps or further.
The entire medical team consists of 12-14 people, comprising doctors, paramedics, physical therapists and nurses.
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