Disabled drivers and marshalling

[Sheila M]

Steve,

How about trying sprints and hill climbs? You could quite easily do course control or even learn to be a commentator.

[JimW]

Originally posted by delta25
. . . or even learn to be a commentator.

Let's face it, if I can do the commentary for the Marshals Club sprint at Curborough, anyone can do it.

(Yes, they were desperate.)

Jim

[Sheila M]

Jim, I'm sure you are doing yourself a great injustice. I bet you were wonderful!

Sheila

[Steve Tarrant]

Have you ever heard Jim over the airwaves??????? :-))

Certainly they are all valid ideas to be looked into.

[Gizmo]

Originally posted by mark ch
And how often do we get briefed if there is a disabled driver - rarely. I can remember at a meeting at Rockingham. Where we and the rescue crews were walking at lunchtime though the paddock we saw a disabled driver(in wheelchair) We and the rescue crew hadn't been briefed on him and the car, on one side was missing the disabled sticker.

And at the end of the day, most disabled drivers can get out/away from the car with less assistance than drivers of a larger girth.

Hi Mark, I was one of the rescue crew with you. I think it was a porsche driver which was to be interesting later when we were scrambled to a porsche in the wall at turn 4. It would be useful to know if there are disabled drivers in otrder that we ( marshals ) can provide a better service in the unfortunate event of an incident.

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally posted by JimW
If a driver needs helping out of a car then offer help. It does not matter whether they are disabled, winded or just thinking "...ing hell, that was expensive". They will tell you what they need.

Interesting one Jim. We're generally taught that if the driver needs assistance to get out of the car then it's probably not a good idea to get them out at all until they've been assessed by a medic.

I think the general consensus here is that, unless the car is a fire hazard, they're probably safer in the car surrounded by lots of heavy metal than they are attempting to stagger through a gravel trap with limited mobility in race traffic - endangering themselves and marshals trying to help them.

As you said, each case has to be taken on its own merits.

I'm sure everyone knows the story of the karter that told me to off when I tried to stop him going back out on the circuit, due to a very obvious leg injury....which turned out to be a prosthetic leg!

[Peter Harding]

Originally posted by JimW

From memory - 2 pit marshals at Snet with severe walking problems (one on crutches). 1 flag in midlands (stays on bank usually but I have seen him over it. 1 Flag/Obs only does 750 meetings and stays off track while cars are on it.
1 course car driver (Exp Specialist with cerebral Palsy and has severs walking and speach limitations.
1 Lydden marshal with false leg.

As for sign on declaration, I agree that this should give help but I am not sure how many people at sign on read that form and how can I verify how much there problem will affect the duty.

Sorry if this sounds dramatic, Its not meant to as we get on quite well with the supposrt of these volunteers, but I have been told that some clubs say you cant marshal if you have a disability and I think thats unfair.

[Piglet]

I'm struggling with this topic as I understand the safety implications of a driver with limited mobility getting out of a car, but if I was that driver I'm not sure I'd want my personal information circulated to all of the marshals posts? Difficult one.

On the subject of marshals, the pit marshal I know who probably comes into this category can cross a pit lane faster on his crutches than I can with my little legs! I'd rather work with him (and would feel safer with him) than any number of "able bodied" but half asleep people who don't see incoming incidents.

[Woolley]

It's probably not as simple as this, but I'd have thought the golden rule is if a driver knows before he starts a session that he will need assistance to get out of the car should he leave the track harmlessly (breakdown or park in gravel) then he ought to warn race control so that the marshals can be made aware of the situation in advance and know they are required to take action in a situation when they would normally just invite the driver to join them on the bank having switched off his own electrics.

If the driver has hit something sufficiently to require intervention, previous disability is probably irrelevent. He only needs to have banged his knee a bit hard in order to need the same assistance.

Of course, I'd like to know if a limb is going to come off in my hands should I try to lift him by it!

[blackx]

We had an instance with a lady driver in the esses at Prescott..
She made quite hard contact with the barriers and took a corner off her little single seater pushing part of the wishbone through the footbox and into the footwell....
After giving her a few minutes to compose herself and assesing the situation it was descided to let her remove herself with assistance from rescue...
When she was upright and put weight on her ankle she began to limp and explained she had broken her ankle!!!!!!!!
As soon as that was heard marshals and rescue crew made a bee line for the driver in order to assist her and get the lady off her feetwhen she explained that she had broken her ankle a few years ago and had only agrivated a previous injury............phew !!!!!!
Not quite the same as disabled drivers I know but a fair example of the confusion that can arise when attending an incident............

[Stevespurr]

Im Diabetic and i am also alergic to wasps and other insect stings/bites I always imform whom ever I am on post with that should I get stung I will need hospital treatment.

[Keith Wheeler]

As a driver on medication following a kidney transplant (16 years ago), I have a luminous laminated card with my medical details (blood group, medication, emergency contact,etc). It's on a lanyard around my neck, with the card hanging out of the top of my racesuit.
Though I have no problems with mobility, hopefully it would be of use to an attending medic should I have an accident and was knocked out, for instance.