We'd like to introduce you to a new addition to our fleet!
As you will know, SMMC operates three specialist Motorsport Rescue Units which provide emergency medical, extrication and firefighting cover at Motorsport UK permitted motorsport events. In a typical year we provide such cover at more than 80 fixtures across Scotland and the UK.
Our voluntary Rescue and Medical teams often witness unexpected collisions in real time, a phenomenon that is rarely encountered elsewhere even by the statutory emergency services, but we are trained, equipped and licensed by the national governing body to provide assistance at the trackside or deep in a forest on a rally stage in these situations.
In their Restart guidance following the COVID-19 pandemic, Motorsport UK stipulated a number of things that necessitated a rethink in how we deploy rescue and medical resources as a Club at competitive events:
- The medic should not travel in the Rescue Unit
- Greater utilisation and mobilisation should be made of Intervention Vehicles
- Restrictions on the number of personnel in rescue units / intervention vehicles whilst not deployed
We have acquired a Medical Response Unit to enhance the provision of care and provide new ways of working through these challenging times.
The car is a Skoda Octavia Scout 4x4 and was an NHS Ambulance Rapid Response Vehicle in a former life. As such it was already fitted with blue lights and sirens and was liveried with green and yellow battenburg markings.
It now carries a wide range of equipment aimed at providing the best possible immediate care in the shortest possible time and will significantly enhance our capability to respond to any incident. It will also be licensed as a Rally Stage Safety Unit.
Nick Clarke, chairman of SMMC, joined Rescue Group Coordinator Alastair Gray and other members of the SMMC Board as well as some of the Rescue Team on the start line at Knockhill Circuit yesterday afternoon ahead of the car’s first official deployment at the Super Lap Scotland championship.
It made its debut fairly dramatically though, and was on scene at an incident during the session within 23 seconds.
SMMC look forward to beginning this new and exciting chapter in motorsport rescue and medicine.
