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ChronoTrack Debuts Medical Tracking Application at 2010 ING New York City Marathon
From the official press release
ChronoTrack Systems, the industry leader in timing for long distance running events, continues to raise the bar with the introduction of MedTrack, a comprehensive medical tracking application. ChronoTrack, an Indiana based company known for its industry leading D-Tag and B-Tag, is currently used to provide timing for 21 of the 25 largest running events in the United States, including the ING New York City Marathon and Bank of America Chicago Marathon. MedTrack was instituted at the ING New York City Marathon, where more than 2100 race participants were treated for some form of medical attention. The application is just another example of ChronoTrack's commitment to excellence and attention to the demands of their race events and their timers.
The dynamic of the New York City Marathon inspires competitors to reach beyond their limits and to push the threshold of their bodies. Knowing this, the medical staff of the New York Road Runners approached ChronoTrack for assistance in developing a more proficient means of tracking the medical treatments for each individual competitor. The application was developed by ChronoTrack in cooperation with the New York Road Runners. "One of the major concerns at any race is medical support, this application provides the staff an easy approach to tracking injuries and competitors" added Kelsey.
When a race competitor entered any of the post-finish medical tents for treatment, a staff member would use a handheld barcode scanner to scan the competitor's barcode located on the bib number. The Medical staff member would then determine the severity of each individual competitor's injury. After scanning the barcode, a series of medical options is displayed on the scanner screen for the medical staff to choose from and classify the injury. The options available to help process the athlete within the MedTrack software include; ICU, Major, Minor, Ice Only, BandAid, Lube, Salt Only, and Research. By scanning the bib number and choosing the level of injury, the medical staff was easily able to perform triage and focus more resources toward the severely injured competitors. "It was our goal to scan competitors efficiently, to ensure the most effective service from the resources available," added John Kelsey.
In addition to the handheld scanners, MedTrack included a new initiative for tracking competitors using the scanner's data, called Interactive Voice Response or IVR. IVR provided family members of competitors an opportunity to dial a toll free number to check the medical status of their marathoner. "By integrating the scanners into our medical treatment we could provide real time tracking in all of our medical tents for all patients being seen. Family members and friends could then dial a toll free number for an update on where their marathon competitor was in the medical process," stated Dr. Stuart Weiss Medical Director for the ING New York City Marathon and the New York Road Runners.
MedTrack was fully integrated with ChronoTrack's existing data collecting infrastructure through internet connections on the handheld barcode scanners. This integration allowed ChronoTrack to monitor the connectivity of the scanners on one of the same desktop applications utilized by ChronoTrack event timing technology. Hidden behind the scenes of the MedTrack is Purvis Systems, a communications technology company known for providing public safety departments with services and communications. Purvis processed the collected data sent from ChronoTrack and presented the information to the medical administration staff for resource allocation and personnel management.
Medical services coordination is not an easy task with nearly 45,000 competitors taking to the streets of the Big Apple. However, embedded in the heart of it all is the medical command center. The medical command center not only monitored competitors on the course through Ham Radio operators, but also provided an exact count of how many competitors were in the medical tents and their condition at all times. The use of a large projector screen with live counts and updates made tracking significantly easier for medical staff members. In total, 42 people of varying medical backgrounds carried the responsibility of monitoring all eight finish line medical tents from the medical command center. EMT's and doctors from around the city were contracted out to work with Dr. Weiss and the NYRR.
Racers often take into consideration the field size, finisher's gifts, cost, history of the event, the race course, the list goes on and on. But until an injury occurs, rarely is medical considered. The New York Road Runners and ChronoTrack Systems have helped to demonstrate their stance as an industry leader in their respective fields and their priority on medical services by making it easier to monitor the health of each individual competitor. In serious medical scenarios, minutes make all of the difference between saving someone's life or not. MedTrack is helping to ensure those precious minutes don't get wasted.