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It takes a team of leaders to organize medical volunteers: (back, left to right) Adam Lamoureux, Alexandra Crowder, Karen Lawrence, Maureen McGrath, Marnie Houlahan, Micheline Goetz; (seated) John Trickett and Jackie Mace.

During last year’s Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, several dehydrated runners were taken to hospital when they could have been treated by The Ottawa Hospital’s volunteer medical team, set up in the Cartier Drill Hall near the finish line.

This year, for the first time, the drill hall has been designated at The Ottawa Hospital satellite site, enabling paramedics to bring injured runners to be treated there, and helping reduce unnecessary emergency department visits. (Select cases will, of course, still be sent to hospital.)

“Also, people would generally rather be treated on site,” said John Trickett, Clinical Director of Surgery, Perioperative Services, Regional Trauma Unit and Bariatric Centre of Excellence. He is working with Karen Lawrence, Clinical Manager of B5, D5 and AMA, and a team of leaders to organize The Ottawa Hospital’s medical volunteers for the May 24 to 25 event.

“By working closely with our paramedic partners, we can ensure patients get the right care in the right place at the right time,” Trickett said. The designation came about after working with the Ottawa Paramedic Service, not a direct result of the Boston Marathon bomb last year.

Medical volunteers treated 115 runners in the Cartier Drill Hall last year – fewer than usual because the weather was cooler.

Lawrence said The Ottawa Hospital could not provide the medical services it does without extensive collaboration among:

• dedicated hospital volunteers, including clinical staff, nursing and medical students
• other hospital services that contribute food, medical supplies and equipment (wheelchairs, defibrillators) that aren’t needed on the weekend
• Run Ottawa; Gatineau ski patrol; Gatineau and Ottawa fire, police and paramedics; and The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
• Dr. Jonathon Hooper, who volunteers as the medical director, bringing extensive experience with international sports medicine. He has the authority to stop the race if it’s too hot or humid.

“It’s a very inspiring event,” said Lawrence. “It’s really quite something to see the runners and our people laughing and working together.”

To volunteer, register at https://tinyurl.com/lrhj5s7

By the numbers:

• 47,000 runners expected this year
• 200 medical volunteers needed
• 50 beds in the Cartier Drill Hall
• 280 runners treated in 2012

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