GrantLifeLink Blog

We are once again organizing for the Arnold Expo, the world’s largest multisport exposition. We need your help at the event and in recruiting. Check out the main web site www.arnoldclassic.com We have our own site medical.arnoldexpo.com .

You MUST review the web site. Good looking jeans are OK and we provide a shirt that you get to keep. Bring photo ID, a pocket ID also for the docs and medics. Our main room is D141 during the expo.

PLEASE RECRUIT OTHER MEDICAL PEOPLE – WE ARE IN NEED. Have them send their email and phone number as well as their medical status to arnmed06@aol.com with the days and hours they are willing to volunteer. They WILL have fun!

Our team has saved lives and prevented serious injuries from becoming lethal. We are a dynamic team with 11 years of experience.

Of course the body building and weight lifting portion, though the major initial attraction, is now overshadowed by the number of athletes in other events (Karate, gymnastics, cheerleading, grappling, fencing, etc.). The event has grown to such an extent that we are now bigger than the Olympics with approximately 18,500 athletes this year in five venues. About 50 athletes will be at Vets Memorial (The Arnold Classic) plus archery and skateboarding and the rest at the convention center, Battelle Hall and Nationwide Arena. The last three represent the The Arnold Expo. There is a hidden factor also that increases the magnitude of our work – the Olympics handles their 18,500 athletes over a 2 week period but we must handle our 18,500 in 3 days!

This year’s Arnold Fitness Weekend is Friday, March 5nd through Sunday March 7th, 2010. There are events on Thursday the 4rth also at Vets – bikini competition.

This years locations:

Greater Columbus Convention Center

Veterans Memorial

Nationwide Arena

Dispatch Ice Haus

Lifestyle Communities Pavilion

Therefore, it is easy to see that this is an excellent place to acquire solid experience in handling a mass casualty incident (MCI). That it is so very calm and controlled is a credit to the volunteers of the medical team even with the total number of injuries. The communications, preparation and organization that it takes to achieve this smooth performance is unbelievable.

If you work with us as a volunteer you WILL see injuries. As the medical director of the Expo portion I have compiled the statistics from the last 10 expo’s. This consisted of all injuries that the expo medical team took care of plus the refusals on scene after we were called. We expect well over 350 injuries (cuts, sprains, fractures, punctured lung x 2, spinal cord contusions, and worse). We expect about 20 EMS runs to local emergency departments and this is all done “real time”.

In terms of liability, all of us are covered under both the Good Samaritan Act and The Arnold’s event insurance.

We will need about 250 individuals assisting us, physicians, medics (especially MedCorp Ambulance Service), nurses, non medical administrative folks, boy scouts and more – all volunteer. PLEASE HELP!

Mr. Lorimer and the Arnold organization are backing us 110% and long ago brought us into the mainstream of the planning process. We have meetings of all the directors of the various events (about 50 different) and they universally are grateful for your past and future involvement. No complaints surfaced during our discussions which is quite a compliment to your performances in the past as we were working with some high intensity people of various nationalities and venues.

Dr. David Ryan and I have been working hard since August to make this work and really never stopped from last year. We are the Co-Chairmen of the Arnold Classic Weekend Medical Team. Please run all questions and replies though me for record keeping purposes.

We have our own web page system where I have placed ALL the information you will need to acquaint yourself with the our rules and protocols. I need all the prospective volunteers to COMPLETELY review those web pages. We also have an 8.5 x 11 Arnold poster advertising the event if you want one. We can email it or hard copy it snail mail.

I hope that all of you that worked with us in the past will return to assist us this year. We need your help and are completely dependent on volunteers and your help is most valuable because you have experience in both the organization and hands on performance of the medical care at The Arnold.

Most of you will encounter others that would be interested in helping out at the Arnold this year. Please “talk it up” with them and if you can garner their interest send me their email address. This is especially true of the physicians who have residents assigned to their service. This is a remarkable opportunity for all to learn about the planning and execution of mass gathering events. If you plan to bring people with you (MEDICAL ONLY or above 13) we MUST have their ID info.

This event is exciting, fun and a worthwhile project and I need your assistance. Please email me regardless of your answer this year. (I can remove you from my email list if you so desire.) This is where mass casualty experience can be obtained with all the backup you may require INSTANTLY available.

Brian F. Griffin, MD

Co-Chairman, Arnold Classic Medical Team

Anesthesia/Pain Subspecialty

Pain Management

Emergency Medicine

ArnMed06@aol.com

614-921-9300 office