Bike teams cover medical emergencies
By Rick Nathanson / Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer, Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at 12:02 am
Photo: Three members of the Albuquerque Ambulance Service bicycle team who provide medical assistance at large events talk over the day’s plans Monday morning at balloon fiesta. From left to right are Jeff Kinney, Meghan Smith and Christian Bowman. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)
Getting help to someone with a medical condition at a large venue with thousands of people, much like the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, can be time-consuming at best and potentially fatal at worst.
Fiesta visitors this year have a bit more of a safety margin in case of such a medical emergency. Albuquerque Ambulance Service’s Bike Teams will be at the ready, straddling mountain bikes fitted with racks containing bags of medical equipment and medications.
“Nationwide, there are emergency medical service bike teams used for their ease of mobility in large crowds and ability to get to critical situations faster at large events,” says Jeff Kinney, a paramedic and business development manager with Albuquerque Ambulance Service, a division of Presbyterian Healthcare Services.
“In 2012, we were approached by organizers of the Gathering of Nations to provide medical coverage during the event,” which took place indoors and outdoors at the Pit, University of New Mexico Arena. “We realized bicycles were the answer and looked at models of EMS bike teams in other cities,” Kinney says.
That first year, bike teams responded to one person who had a stroke and another who had a heart attack. “We were able to get to the patients quickly and stabilize them until the ambulance arrived and transported them to the hospital.”
He did not know what happened to the two patients after they were taken from the scene.
Nevertheless, he says, “It showed that there is a need at large events to have some kind of medical team that can maneuver quickly throughout the crowds and render on-site care until an ambulance arrives.”
Since then, Kinney says, bike teams have been on scene at Albuquerque marathons, concerts and block parties, and assistance has been provided to people who experienced dehydration, seizures and diabetic reactions.
In addition, the number of people on the bike teams has grown to 22. Each team generally consists of a paramedic and an emergency medical technician. All services provided by a bike team are free of charge.
Among the equipment loaded onto their bicycles are an external defibrillator, intravenous pouches, medications for diabetic and cardiac episodes, gauze and trauma dressings, hot packs, ice packs, splints for fractures, portable oxygen tanks and devices to open a person’s airway.
The balloon fiesta will be the largest event the bike teams have staffed thus far. Last year, Kinney says, there were 15 calls for medical assistance during the nine-day event.
The bike teams, he says, will monitor the large parking areas and make themselves available to assist Albuquerque Fire Department EMS personnel, who will keep a watch over the launch field. In addition, a medical tent on the field will be staffed by personnel from Lovelace Health System, Kinney says.
“No matter if you’re on the launch field, vendor row, or walking to or from the parking area, people can rest assured that there will be emergency medical services available should that be needed.”