HDSCS Supports Disney Half-Marathon

At 6 AM on Labor Day, September 3, 2007, approximately 14,000 runners set out from the Disneyland complex on the second annual Disney Half Marathon, a fund-raiser to support of city of Anaheim community service projects. It was to be the hottest day of a heat wave in Orange County and Kaiser Permanente, a primary sponsor of the event, was up to the challenge of taking care of the runners as the event's primary medical provider. This year, HDSCS radio operators provided the communications for all the Kaiser medical teams.

In the previous year, Kaiser medical teams communicated with push-to-talk cell phones. There were no technical problems, but they found that resource to be awkward and inconvenient to use when they were simultaneously handling patient duties. Because HDSCS supports Kaiser Hospital in Anaheim, we learned of the need and volunteered to provide the medical communications for this event. We placed dedicated communicators at each of the four medical tents along the course, plus communicators at the Command Center, at the finish line, in the main medical tent, and in the reunion tent. We had four communicators on bicycles following Kaiser's bicycle medical teams. There was also a HDSCS operator atop a nearby hotel parking structure to serve as a net control or message relay as necessary.

As the race continued, Kaiser medical personnel commented that they were "thrilled" with the communications that seamlessly linked everyone together. The Command Center at Disneyland Central First Aid was constantly in touch with every medical location and all key personnel. Any urgent call was quickly handled. HDSCS operators expedited assistance to two serious incidents on the course. In one case, a medical tent communicator called in the condition of a runner who became confused and unresponsive in a tunnel under the street nearby. A bicycle communicator reported a runner who went down on the side of the road.

Meanwhile the communicators at the finish line, main medical tent, and reunion area were very busy. With the high heat and so many runners, the 30-bed medical unit was full almost continuously. As many as five hundred runners received some kind of medical care during the event. Approximately twenty had to be transported to local hospitals.

HDSCS member communicators for this event were:

     Tom Gaccione WB2LRH
     Bill Hegardt K6WIL
     Roman Kamienski KG6QMZ
     Duane Mariotti WB9RER
     Jim McLaughlin AB6UF
     April Moell WA6OPS
     Joe Moell KØOV
     Dave Mofford W7KTS
     Dale Petes KI6ANS
     Jon Schaffer W6UFS
     Ken Simpson W6KOS
     Clay Stearns KE6TZR
     Scott Stys KG6LJY
     Dave West KI6EPI

Also participating was Ric Maxfield N6RIC, the ARRL Orange Section Emergency Coordinator.

When it was all over and everyone had headed home for a nap, it was clear that the Amateur Radio link was a major contributor to the Kaiser Medical Team being able to provide excellent care. Kaiser's Event Operations Manger commented on how valuable our participation was in making the event a success. The Disney representative in the Disneyland Command Center indicated how impressed she was by our seriousness and professionalism.

Dr. Rick Csintalan, the Event Medical Director, stated in email, "I can not thank you enough for the fantastic job that all of your folks did with the communication. It made all the difference. You all did a first class job and I always felt like I was in touch with all that was going on." Dr. Richard Pitts, Kaiser's Orange County Assistant Medical Director, who was in the Command Center, wrote to say, "The hams gave me back the ten years I lost off my life expectancy from the poor communications last year."

Once again, HDSCS communicators have proven the value of trained, educated, and well-prepared portable communicators in assisting medical personnel in the care of patients, regardless of the setting.

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This page updated 5 October 2007