It's the Detroit Grand Prix weekend, and once again, much has been done to make the event wholesome, including ensuring the three-day event is ready for any medical emergency.
The Track Medical Center is located at the center of the 1.7-mile street circuit facing the Detroit River. Simply put, it's a full-fledged emergency room trackside. A Detroiter at heart, Dr. Trifun Dimitrijevski, also known as Dr. D, is the medical director for the Detroit Grand Prix, a title the emergency physician has been proud of for eight years.
"If you wonder why there is a break in the wall, it's been specifically designed so we can access the track medical center in the event of an injury," said Dr. D.
Dr. D says a Med Car is the first to respond.
"This medical vehicle carries an emergency medicine-trained physician and a lot of advanced equipment," said Dr. Dr.
Once assessed and stabilized, the patient is rushed to an eight-bed facility that is staffed with a dozen physicians and nurses.
"When you come inside here, we go straight into the driver treatment area that's dedicated to providing care specifically for drivers that are involved in any kind of incident on track. If they are injured, we are fully prepared to do anything and everything we can," said Dr. D.
"When you say fully prepared, what are we looking at?" I asked.
"We have everything that a normal emergency room will have, we monitor to put the patient on, we have a crash cart, in case we need to administer fluids, we have resuscitation or if patient is not breathing, we can put a tube in their mouth to help them breathe, we even have blood products, we have the ability to stabilize them before we transport them," said Dr. D.
Patients with life-threatening injuries are transferred to Detroit Receiving Hospital, but luckily, last year, Dr. D's unit didn't have to respond to anything serious.
"In previous years, we've had some significant injuries; we had people fall in the pit lane and injure themselves, had a collapsed lung, we've had drivers that had wrecked on course and had significant trauma, facial fractures, not breathing and responsive when we got to them," said Dr. D.
While this medical center is dedicated for track emergencies, Dr. D says the Detroit Grand Prix covers every aspect of any medical issues that may arise.
"We have three other first aid stations located throughout the facility to deliver care for spectators, workers, and vendors, and we also have nine roving medical teams on golf carts to deliver care," said Dr. D.
"Where do you do X-rays?" I asked.
"This is a portable HD digital machine that takes fantastic X-rays. We have it for the weekend, and we can wheel it where we need to take it," said Dr. D.
"Where is your snack room?" I asked.
"It's right around the corner from the x-ray. Hey, no medical facility is complete without a robust snack room and homemade snacks, so we share no expense for the snacks," said Dr. D.
There are also offices for the team, a medication section, and a lab for urgent testing.
"Being as humble as I can, you are going to be hard-pressed to find anyone that does it better than we do it here in Detroit," said Dr. D.
And growing up as a motorsports fan only makes Dr. D's job a dream come true.
"You know I always say this weekend is like Christmas morning, its fantastic," said Dr. D.
The Track Medical Center is operational from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Dr. D is on call just in case any driver needs medical attention overnight.
