ATSU volunteers care for rock ‘n’ roll runners
Posted: January 28, 2010
Runners in the 2010 P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on January 17 who needed medical assistance found themselves in good hands, as close to 150 of the approximately 700 medical volunteers for this year’s race were students, faculty, staff, or alumni of A.T. Still University.
A team of 20 first-year School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (SOMA) students manned one of the tents at the finish line, treating runners who showed any kind of distress. “Mostly, we did general histories on runners and handed out Tylenol and ice wraps,” said John Rudolph, OMS I, vice president of the SOMA sports medicine club. “We also watched for signs of dehydration.” Of the approximately 33,000 runners, Rudolph estimates personally treating 30-40.
SOMA students were joined by a third-year resident from a local hospital, a licensed physician, and a few second- and third-year student volunteers from other local medical schools. “The physician on our team was very impressed with our (SOMA students’) speed in treating patients and how efficiently we communicated,” Rudolph continued. “He felt we delivered care at a very high level.”
For the sixth year in a row, Randy Danielsen, Ph.D., PA-C, DFAAPA, dean of ATSU’s Arizona School of Health Sciences (ATSU-ASHS), served as a medical director for the race. Eric Sauers, Ph.D., ATC, chair of the ATSU-ASHS department of interdisciplinary health sciences, served as an assistant medical director. His primary responsibility was to recruit and supervise the race finish sweep teams who helped troubled runners avoid collapse and got those in need to a medical tent.
“This year we had another outstanding turnout from ATSU students and faculty to provide volunteer medical staff for the race,” said Dr. Sauers. “Working this event is always so much fun because it provides a rare opportunity to work alongside colleagues and students providing care to a very appreciative group of participants, many of whom are raising money for important medical research.”
Also included on the volunteer medical team were six full-time faculty and five alumni who served as medical team captains. ASHS PA students also had a significant presence on the race route as part of the medical volunteer team.