"Planned Disaster" at the NYC Marathon

Most runners in a major marathon begin their races well-rested and bubbling with enthusiasm and hope. Hours later, that overflowing energy has been drained and runners finish transformed, often not in a good way. Some merely cross the finish line very tired. But others, predictably though unfortunately, encounter trouble along the way -- maladies from blisters to bruises, heat stroke to hypothermia to heart attacks.

An immense amount of planning and logistics are required to prepare to treat the runners who end up needing medical attention. For the several hours following a race like the New York City Marathon, the effort resembles the mobilization of medical resources after a natural disaster.

In fact, in many ways, marathons turn out to be apt testing grounds for responding to disasters. In some sense, a marathon is a "planned disaster" -- that's one of the observations in an interesting article in today's New York Times (Doctor Prepared for the Worst at Marathon).

The article describes how the NYC Marathon expanded its medical services for the 2010 race under the new philosophy of Dr. Stuart Weiss, the race's second-year medical director. The article quotes Dr. Weiss to the effect that it's a unique situation to be working in an emergency room and have all your patients running to you.

For anyone who has gratefully accepted treatment at a race, or only wondered about what preparation is needed to stage such an event, it's a fascinating article.