When we compete in marathons, we don’t always give much thought to the infrastructure behind the event. We train and in our own minds, we are prepared. But we don’t always realize how well prepared the organizing entity may or may not be and if they can be prepared to properly support an event.
On the morning of Feb 6th, during the 28th San Francisco Kaiser half-marathon, of the ten thousand participants, one of the runners approaching the finish line collapsed.
The runner collapsed and folks were pointing out to the announcer that someone needed help. The announcer sent out pages and it took repeated pages over the loudspeaker to get staff on-hand. It took so long that Other runners and spectators started to get involved and conduct CPR.
A woman yelled at the announcer to start calling for a doctor in the crowd.
It took, depending on sources, anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes before an ambulance showed up. One of the reasons for the delay, according to the local NBC news, was that the ambulance could not locate the finish line.
Thus, 36-year-old Peter Hoss (sp?) of Orinda, CA passed away in what sounded like an unnecessary tragedy that could have been averted.
The cause of death has yet to be determined but I’m surprised when any event that involves strenuous participation does not have sufficient medically trained personnel on hand.
There’s more at SF Gate.
