foooook sake, it scares the crap out me when I see this… How easy is to become a sack of shit against the tarmac, urban furniture, trees, poles… be careful out there. On the other side, I guess is that fear what keep us alive on two wheels. It´s only the ones capable of ignoring this fear, the ones that are good at such kind of sports.
The Marshall and the St johns medic shouldnt have tried to remove his helmet like that. They needed to have someone stabalizing the head first, then imobilize the neck before Tring to slide off the lid. If he had a broken back that could’ve made it worse!
We’ve been trained to fully support the head before undoing the buckle, and then get one hand under the chin and one behind the head and tightly lock the neck before even attempting to remove the lid. The Marshall started undoing it before having someone else there stopping the head moving.
The sequence could have been better. You are right that the first guy to arrive should have taken the control position, and the second guy remove the strap, but there was no significant head movement before the second guy arrived and took hold of the helmet, and any neck movement undoing the strap would be minimal. However, the aim is not to totally eliminate head and neck movement, but to minimise unnecessary movement. It may be necessary to move the head to get at the strap depending on how the casualty has ended up. You need to undo the strap before taking up the immobilisation position. Having assisted a paramedic at the roadside at a real incident, it is not easy to get it 100% right, even for a paramedic who does this all the time!
Beleive me i know, once the Adreneline kicks in all the training goes out the window and you zone out, Takes a real professional (Like all the Medics at races) to take control and calm the situation. I’ve been lucky enough to not have been in the situation where a Racer has needed a helmet removal yet, but even the placing of them on a Scoop is nerve wracking!
I’m sure i’ve mentioned it Before but my Mum is good friends with Guy Martins Mum’s Cousin (I’ve never met Guy, nor has my mum, but i’m trying!! lol), I just rung my Mum and she is actually with her friend this weekend in Windsor and i asked her to Ask how Guy was they just rang his Mum for me and she said he was fine, he is sitting up in Bed today a bit battered and bruised, but he is tough as old Boots and luckily got away wthout serious injury