Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
AMA Pro Racing has announced a new medical board which only includes doctors associated with motocross and conspicuously lacks participation by doctors who have road raced–including retired emergency room doctor Jim Adams, general practitioner James Norwood and orthopedic surgeon Dave Kieffer–or have made a career out of treating road racers, including orthopedic surgeon Dr. Art Ting.
An AMA Pro Racing press release on the new medical board follows:
AMA PRO RACING FORMS MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD TO IMPLEMENT UNIFORM RACE MEDICAL CARE
PICKERINGTON, Ohio — AMA Pro Racing has formed a new five-member Medical Advisory Board to implement new standards for trackside medical support of AMA Pro Racing competitors.
The medical advisory board is made up of members with extensive experience in motorcycle racing, including: Bob Moore, former FIM World Motocross champion and chairman of the Road 2 Recovery Foundation; AMA Supercross and Motocross doctors John Bodnar, Medical Director, and Stephen Augustine; Duke Finch, AMA Motocross/Supercross manager; and Hugh Fleming, AMA Pro Racing safety and equipment director.
“The medical advisory board was formed by AMA Pro Racing to implement better safety and medical policies for our professional racers,” said Scott Hollingsworth, CEO, AMA Pro Racing. “Our goals are to standardize medical services in all of AMA Pro Racing with the eventual aim of providing a mobile hospital that would go to as many events as possible. We will shortly announce our first medical policy dealing with concussions and we hope to establish a medical database of our riders to help better evaluate their condition in the event of an injury.”
The mission of the medical advisory board is to promote the safety of the AMA professional athlete, to improve and elevate the quality of on-site medical care available at professional races, and to promote safety and performance research as it relates to professional motorcycle racing.
“The advisory board is working to form policies to benefit the rider’s health and safety first and foremost,” said Fleming. “The work being done in supercross and motocross is acting as a template for other disciplines. Future goals include augmenting the medical staff with professional trainers and therapists.”
The team of Dr. Bodnar and Dr. Augustine work together in covering all AMA Supercross and Motocross events this season thanks in large part to the support of Asterisk, a sub-division of the CTI Kneebrace Company. The addition of these sports-specific doctors, working in conjunction with existing track medical staffs, is helping to better assess and deal with injuries suffered by riders. The board is also formulating standardized policies on how to best deal with specific types of injuries, especially when dealing with head injuries.
Asterisk provides financial assistance for the doctors expenses for both supercross and motocross. Additionally, they have organized and funded the Kawasaki Medical Mule that has been used at the races to provide a prompt response vehicle to assist with injured riders.
The AMA Pro Racing Medical Advisory Board is the latest effort by AMA Pro Racing to further the cause of rider safety in motorcycle racing. Last year, with support from throughout the industry, AMA Pro Racing implemented the use of hundreds of feet of additional air modules at AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship races.