Paramedics are part of our sport just as much as a bike or a finish line are. Jon Hanekom is a paramedic who works at DH races and also teaches first aid. You never get to hear their side of things so here you are…

NSRMTB: What do you like best about working at DH races?

Jon: The people. Thats the main reason I do Mountain Biking is because of the people. My first time Mountain Biking I was bit uncertain of how people would be. Once I got to know the guys and they got to know me, I found them to be a fantastic bunch of guys. I’ve been doing DH now since 96 so I pretty much know, specially the old guys they’re comfortable with me and Im happy to work with them. I do it mainly because I like the people and because I like what I’m doing, not necessarily like the sport but I like what I do. A lot of my costs are there just to cover my equipment. So some days I don’t have any patients, other days I have a lot of patients and I go through a lot of equipment specially sort of thing like drips which are quite pricey items.

NSRMTB: Would you ever race DH?

Jon: Definitely not. I’ve seen what guys go through, so no.

NSRMTB: Is it true you worked as a bodyguard in Iraq?

Jon: Yes, I’ve done 6 tours up there. Not just as a bodyguard but also working there as a team medic. Responsible for the medic team and also for the training of the team in medical emergencies.

NSRMTB: You also train first aid as well don’t you?

Jon: I do First Aid, we’re registered to train levels I, II and III. I concentrate mainly on levels I and II, thats usually the requirements for industry. Level III, I don’t recommend to a person who just wants to learn First Aid…it deals a lot with applied physiology as well as child birth. I prefer level I and II because there is a lot more practical aspects involved there.

NSRMTB: During your career you must have seen some crazy injuries?

Jon: We’ve seen all types of injuries. Injuries that worry me most are obviously injuries to children. I don’t like to see children getting hurt. There is one case that worries me quite a bit still after a number of years, but you see all types on injuries. A lot of injuries look extremely bad but they are not dangerous, other injuries can be minor but they can be extremely dangerous.

NSRMTB: Is there any one event you dread working at?

Jon: No, I don’t say I dread working at any event. If you are trained and you confident and qualified you can normally handle any situation.

NSRMTB: What is the biggest misconception about what you do as a paramedic?

Jon: The biggest misconception OK…I think the biggest misconception is we can work miracles. They expect us to be able to do…to treat a person to be 100% or he is going to walk away from a serious condition and I think thats the biggest misconception. A Paramedic is human just like and just like anything else, everybody else we have our limitations to what we can do. Even with the right equipment if the patient is not going to make it, he’s not going to make it. I think people blame the medics for people dying. It’s not always so. A Paramedic can only do so much, a Doctor can only do so much. I think thats the biggest misconception, is that we can work miracles. Sometimes I think we do, but thats the biggest misconception.

NSRMTB: Have you ever been hit by a bike while working at a race?

Jon: Ok, difficult one that. While treating a patient, no. While standing on the sideline at Downhill, no I make sure I’m out of the line of fire at Downhill. So I always go ahead of where I am going to be standing, I try work out the angles of the bikes and I stay away from that particular area. I do make some good catches though when guys come off their bikes I try catch them before they hit a tree or something. So through the years I’ve made some fantastic catches and then the comments usually fly. With the MTB guys there are comments but not in a nasty way. I tend to do that myself so it works out really good.

NSRMTB: What can a downed rider do to make your job easier?

Jon: First, lets change this question around a bit. I would like to see all Downhill riders wear protective gear. Ok, thats number 1. The more protective gear you wear the less chances of serious injuries or often you just see guys wearing helmets and nothing else. I think that should be changed. Knee guards, ah, chest guards, elbow guards are very, very important. Ok, as far as making my job easier…is not to do Downhill!(laughs). If a rider does go down, don’t try to continue the race. If the rider is on the track we need to stop the race. Obviously I can communicate with the top but if the marshall stops where I have told them to, must please be patient. Don’t try force past us. Obviously it can take time depending on the injury. So just please be patient and don’t be combative when we do try and assist. We need to check a patient out, we need to check necks, we need to check back, OK. We’ve seen what happens there and we start thinking what conditions could be or what could the patient have and we’ll look for those conditions. So guys please be patient and then we will say to them “ok, carry on”. If we pull the guys off, we pull them off for a reason. Specially guys with a concussion. Concussion is a very serious condition. So if you say “guy please don’t ride”, please listen to us. Some guys think they are machines and they can take it but the human body can only take so much and then it says enough is enough.

NSRMTB: Do you think racers involved with sports like DH should have at least a basic knowledge of First Aid?

Jon: I think thats very, very important. Not necessarily a level I or level II but we can arrange a course relevant to their particular sport. What they are bound to find and how can they treat that. Specially regards to concussions, fractures and obviously neck and spinal injuries. Thats our big problems.

NSRMTB: What is one of the funnier calls you have been on?

Jon: The one I told you about where the guy was trying to commit suicide. We got called out to an attempted suicide, we arrived there., it was a youth. This was just after the Matric exams had come out and he had failed and the call we got was attempted suicide. We arrived there and he had a piece of electrical chord around his neck and he was manually pulling on the chord trying to strangle himself. So that was one if the more time wasting calls that we have had. Oh yes and at the Show (The Royal Show in PMB) one year we got called to a ladies toilet, a little child had fallen into a toilet, just its head, hands and feet were sticking out. Paramedics have a warped sense of humor, I thin that thats how we cope with the pressures of what we see in life. My wife often gets upset because of our sick sense of humor but thats how we deal with it.

NSRMTB: Lots of people take a concussion lightly and are back riding soon after the injury. Just how serious is a concussion?

Jon: Concussions are were there has been a certain amount of damage to the brain. Its brain jarring, your brains been bumped around in the skull and certain parts of it have been damaged. Once you get concussion once its easier to get and each time it gets progressively worse. But people must realize that concussion…you might not feel it now but the effects can develop up to 24 hours afterwards. So that patient needs to be monitored. It can lead to raised inter-crainial pressure specially if a bleed develops. A raise in cranial pressure is a life threatening condition and develops in minutes. Once that happens the only way to save the patient is through surgery and thats opening up the skull and trying to find the bleed and close that off. So it is a dangerous condition, we have a saying: “You talk, you walk…you die.”. Guys might be sitting down, feeling fine, he suddenly stands up, pops a blood vessel and then goes dead. So it is a very serious condition.

If you are interested in getting Jon Hankeom to your event or for training you can contact him here:

316 Prince Alfred Street

P.O Box 48

Pietermaritzburg

3200

Cell: 083 394 0536

Fax: 086 648 5061

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 10:55 am and is filed under Features, Interviews, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.