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Whatever....I cant even form an opinion from this snippet.

Safety in NASCAR is a joke. Their "safety team" is just a couple of local tow trucks and a couple of local EMTs. They are going to kill somebody one of these days because they don't have a full-time, dedicated safety team.

If you want to read about WHY they need a dedicated team, just read "Rapid Response". It's by Dr. Steve Olvey, who founded the original IndyCar/CART safety team. He lays out exactly why responding to a racing accident isn't like responding to a regular highway accident. He also rips NASCAR (without mentioning them by name) for using locals instead of a travelling team.

So, were they supposed to rush up with a portable X-ray and determine, on the spot, that he was a broken ankle? I think the most important thing is to get the driver out of the car. Unless he's unconscious, get him out.

Hooah, no, after a crash like that, you had darn well better have a stretcher handy. Local EMTs aren't trained or equipped to handle a racing crash. How often do EMTs respond to an accident involving a 180mph crash outside of that one or two weekends a year where a particular guy is working safety at a racetrack?

It might look cool as hell for someone to flip their car twelve times and then get out of their car and walk away, a la McDowell, but in reality there's no excuse for not carrying the drivers from the car to the infield care center where they can a preliminary checkup after the kind of high-impact crashes you so often see in NASCAR.

EMTs deal with highway crashes all the time...why would it be any different>?

i would want a trained team of medical guys if possible..........some of the emts i have would have trouble removing a splinter........these are not wrecks in your fathers oldsmobile at 55 miles an hour................this is some big time stuff and it should be treated as such.................i say yes to full time safety teams

I hope there aren't highway crashes at those speeds all the time, and even if there are, it's not with NASCAR equipment.

I don't know, it's just one of those things where...they have a traveling team that rents those fancy headsets with the miniature TV screens, but they can't have a NASCAR-trained safety team that travels to each track and that is familiar with the cars, the drivers, and who knows what precautions to take following a crash with as much force as you see at races? I don't understand how someone could argue against a traveling safety team, I really don't. Don't get me wrong, overall the safety crews that are at races now do a bang-up job (pun maybe intended) but with things like Franchitti's broken ankle or a few weeks ago at Vegas when Tony was walked down the banking of the track after a back and knee injury shouldn't have to happen. I understand that having to make a decision in a hurry doesn't always allow you to avoid mistakes, but that's exactly my point. A traveling safety team wouldn't necessarily have to make those decisions on the spot - protocol could be in place, for example, for how to move a driver from the top of a high-banked turn to the bottom where the ambulance is, without having to have the driver walk down there.

I agree with what nin_man said.....It was inexcusable to have Fanchitti walk, even with assistance, with a broken ankle....same with Tony. The car was not on fire, so they the few seconds needed to determine that his foot/ankle probably was broken.
Only in cases where life is threatened should they do what they did.

nin_man; Well said and right on the money. Speaking of money, perhaps that is part of the reason for this system of using local EMT'S. My guess is the cost factor is lower to hire local people as opposed to having a full time team of trained medical workers and the travel expenses have to be figured in also. Perhaps Nascar is concerned with bottom line more than driver safety.

There is not a single major sports organization in the country that does not have a sports medicine staff with team physicians and certified athletic trainers who are trained in "on-field/on-track" injury evaluations. They handle spinal injuries to broken ankles daily in performance arenas in front of large crowds. It's their job and specific training. Why NASCAR has yet to form this type of safety team is ridiculous. Not to mention the follow-up rehab that could be done with these types of injuries weekend in and out by the same team.
NASCAR needs certified athletic trainers and an entire safety team.

NASCAR is dumb.

Your ability to intelligently articulate a complex argument is mesmerizing, NID. But more to the point, NASCAR needs to have a traveling medical team. Medical professionals will be better equipped to take care of drivers (and anyone else connected to NASCAR at the track) if they know their history. Starting a traveling medical team tomorrow won't show benefits this weekend or next weekend, and maybe not even this season. But having it week after week will show huge benefits down the road. The knowledge goes to something as mundane as what drugs a driver is allergic to as specific as how many times they have fractured an ankle or separated a shoulder. If safety really is #1 for NASCAR, then this should be a no-brainer.

why is nascar not moving on this ......its not like it just popped up.....they have just ignored this for years like drug testing......yes it will cost money for this and drug testing.....the testing is financial and not wanting to know if anyone is abusing drugs.............this is strictly financial unless insurance figures into it...........maybe by using local yokels for first aid and safety the liability is on the provider and not nascar

NASCAR's attitude toward safety sounds a lot like their attitude toward drug use, doesn't it?

Nascar can pay local firefighters or EMS people $25 to $30 an hour to work a race weekend. A traveling safety team would demand higher pay than that. You would have to have very good pay to attract the very best.

What a joke......... I'm an EMT and I had broken ankle..... When I broke my ankle I walked the 200 feet to the first aid room, the 300 feet to the truck that took me to the hospitial, only to find out that it was broken soo bad that I needed to have surgery the next morning...... I watch football player who get injuried walk to sidelines with a limp, only to find out AFTER x-rays that the injury was a broken bone.

EMTs are not issued x-ray spec when they get their licenses. Dario probably told the EMTs that he twisted or bruised his ankle, and he would be okay, hind-sight is always 20/20. Until you become an EMT and in those situations, dont second guess, becuase being their and in the scene changes preceptions dramatically, and most people dont want that much pressure on them, or are weak stomached. Some could careless about their fellow man, but whine like school girls when they see something like this.

Leave it to someone to cry and whine about a safety crew just because some poor ex-Indy car driver got hurt. Maybe if it so bad he should go back to Indy.

Rickapolis....good observation !

JSNMLK...I have never had any broken anything, so I have no experience to draw on.....however, if I do ever need an EMT, I surely hope I get one with more compassion than you have. I don't see this topic as whining at all......this is a very important issue.

Dario probably did make those comments. If you went to a wreck and someone said, "Oh I think my ankle is just twisted but I want a ride to the hospitial." Would you take all the neccessary precautions of a possible broken ankle or allow them to walk to the EMS truck and climb on the gurney?

JSNMLK after reading your comments it seems that nascar does need a full time crew to handle the medical and safety issues that arise..............i shudder to think that you and another person with the same attitude were to arrive at a driver injured on the track................as he walked to the care center you could finish your hot dog and big slurpee...................i agree they dont issue x ray specs with your license but maybe they should include a common sense quiz

I am extremely compassionate, I treat these patients as "family", but at the same point in time I do have some common sense if somebody tells me that they have a head ache I dont jump into C-spine and back board precautions, I look and check and make the right call. Do you want to be responsible for destroying a fire suit and shoes because you think you might have an ankle injury, or make the 2 min trip to infield care and have it looked at by a doctor, that if I remember right is paid by NASCAR and travels from track.

Dont make an assumption based on hindsight, try to understand what is going on in real time and make an assessment in the same time they have and with the information they have. I have seen an Indy races and the EMTs are not any better than what NASCAR has, the safety staff does extracate the driver.