Mediclinic supports the Change a Life Cycle Tour

Posted on 21 September 2012

The event

A brutal, tragic event five years ago sparked an organisation that has literally turned the tables on a scourge of our society by raising upwards of R3 million for positive action against crime.

The Change a Life Cycle is the primary fundraising vehicle for the Mike Thomson Change a Life Trust, which was set up in the wake of the murder of senior Computershare manager Mike Thomson at his home in 2007. Every year since 2008, about 70 of the country’s foremost business leaders from top JSE listed companies take to the road to raise funds for the trust.

This year’s event, High Five Tour, will take participants on a 555 km journey through the beautiful bushveld landscape of the Waterberg, and once again the Mediclinic Events team will be on hand to provide medical support.

Meet the Mediclinic Events team at the Change a Life Cycle Tour

Specialist emergency physician, Dr Basil Bonner heads up the team and his involvement with providing medical support at extreme sporting events dates back to 1995. He is the race doctor on premier events such as the Absa Cape Epic and Pick n Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour. “Every event is unique and we put together a team capable of meeting the medical challenges of the event. We are able to attend to all situations, from minor abrasions and illnesses to serious medical incidents such as fractures and heart attacks,” he says on the eve of his fifth stint as race doctor on this event.

Basil will be assisted by Caroline Murray, a professional nursing practitioner well-versed in trauma medicine. A passionate weekend warrior herself, Caroline has been the medical officer on the Tour d’ Afrique and several Cape Epics. “The key to riding a successful multi-day event is to never underestimate an injury. The smallest of scratches can become a serious issue if not treated, riders should not wait until the proverbial wheels come off, but rather visit our daily clinics and have it seen to,” she points out.

Mediclinic Events in action

The Mediclinic Events team has positioned itself as the medical partner of choice for sporting events, specialising in those classified as extreme.

In general, the team approaches every event as a “planned medical disaster, which requires the same rigorous planning of medical, police and traffic services”. Their contribution therefore is not limited to dealing with the injuries and medical problems at an event, but involves months of logistics and planning beforehand, such as route planning, marketing and brand strategies. This includes sourcing a team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists, setting out medical service points or fully equipped field hospitals with critical care monitors, oxygen cylinders, defibrillators, heart monitoring machines and any other equipment you would find in a hospital emergency centre.

As part of its cutting edge service, Mediclinic utilises a unique centralised electronic surveillance system, which provides information on the participants’ medical history to personnel along the route. It allows them to make practical real-time decisions when treating a patient. Following an event, the team is able to analyse the data in order to recognise recurrent problems and conditions and to help with the planning for future events.

The events in which they are involved include the Augrabies Extreme Marathon, ABSA Cape Epic, Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour and the Africa Ice Swim, among others. They were also responsible for providing advanced life support and other medical equipment for Lewis Pugh’s record-breaking Everest swim in 2010.

Through their deliberate, orchestrated approach to events of this nature, Mediclinic Events is able to provide world-class care and peace of mind to participants through delivering on their promise of Expertise you can Trust.

The information provided in this article was correct at the time of publishing. At Mediclinic we endeavour to provide our patients and readers with accurate and reliable information, which is why we continually review and update our content. However, due to the dynamic nature of clinical information and medicine, some information may from time to time become outdated prior to revision.