Race Safety Innovations

2008 Champions
Tuesday November 18 2008
Congratulation to all the 2008 Champions and their teams for hard fought battles and down to the wire finishes. It was an exciting year and promises to be more challenging in 2009 with economic and election issues throwing even more frustrations and roadblocks our way to overcome and conquer.

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ACT/Lowes Safety Training

Classroom training and props are a necessity when updating track crews on industry changes. It should include at a minimum awareness and operations of all motorsports activities at your facility before any operations training takes place. Your situation is not alone, so think "out of the box" when planning because many others have faced the same problems before and devised some pretty ingenious ways to operate efficiently and safely across the racing world.

Older but not obsolete chassis are a definite must when familiarizing track crews with chassis construction under the skin. Triangulation and stress points must be reviewed when planning cut points and using tools. This is a great time to see what your tools can and cannot due. Make mistakes here, not on the track. The rules apply to all forms of motorsports whether on land, sea, air, open wheel or closed cockpit, dirt or asphalt, short tracks, drag strips or super speedways. Educate yourselves before the green flag drops not when the yellow comes out for a crash, pit fire or grandstand emergency.

This ACT rollover cage brings true realism to track safety training. Note the lack of currently used head and shoulder surrounds as this is a very basic cage layout for a variety of applications. Whenever training props are used, they should be updated regularly to reflect the latest trends in safety gear and cockpit gear available including full cockpit sheet metal, wiring, impact foam, seats with head and shoulder surrounds and head and neck restraints, etc.

Releasing the belts now is definitely a no no unless the driver is full supported by an interior attending fire/medic. If the driver is unconscious, airway and c-spine must be protected before you "dump him/her". Rollover techniques must be developed and practiced regularly with your recovery crew for this scenario. The last time I tried to support a person of dead weight upside down and out of position it wasn't too successful. Try it sometime with limited manpower. You might rethink your protocols after a realistic training evolution like this. Remember, the cameras may be on you too, so any mistakes will be caught and scrutinized by a great many in the television audience.

Good props and full protective clothing are a must when getting down and dirty. Equipment and training guidelines can be found in the latest version of NFPA 610, Guide for Emergency and Safety Operations at Motorsports Venues. RSI can assist you in gear selection and tools and training techniques in a variety of areas for your team or facility. Common sense is the key here to solving many of your emergency response and facility issues.

Realistic fire training is hard to come by. The ACT program at Lowes Motor Speedway does it up right. So can you. Most fire departments would love to get this advanced training, so when making track crew plans for training; include the local fire, rescue and EMS teams in your region. They would love to share this with you especially if they just happen to be your mutual aid backup! Special fire/rescue situations at the racetrack may help these groups in the real world as well. Remember, no one has all the answers and every fire/rescue situation should be a learning experience as well. Contact RSI for details or assistance in this endeavor.

The banking at Lowes and other tracks is much steeper than it looks. The track action must be stopped before any equipment can be brought across the track. Sounds like a no brainer, but you won't believe the stories we've heard. Don't be caught short by being unprepared or unequipped for these technical rescue challenges. The race director should not be making fire/rescue situational decisions! Establish a good ICS with a fire/rescue/EMS coordinator and stick to your guns. It will make the incident scene response more efficient and safer for the crews so we can get back to the racing action faster. After all, the show must go on!