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The Speed of Safety: Training Programs for Tracks and Emergency Response Teams
For race tracks, safety training always warrants a green flag. Here are some of the latest training programs for emergency response teams.
A race track’s safety team might sit quietly in the background for most events. But when needed, there is no substitute for a highly trained crew responding to on-track chaos. These are, after all, life-and-death matters.
When done correctly, a safety crew’s response to a crash comes across like a well-oiled machine, with fires doused, drivers extracted, cars hauled off, and debris collected in minimal time.
That doesn’t happen by chance. A quality race track will have established safety procedures in place, with regular practice sessions scheduled for employees. Even then, “safety” is not one set of standards chiseled into stone. Technology advances, new racing series pop up, and lessons are learned, sometimes the hard way. Safety training is an ongoing process that is constantly evolving.
Tom Weisenbach is the executive director of the International Council of Motorsport Sciences (ICMS) in Indianapolis, Indiana. The ICMS conducts a Race Track Safety Program in conjunction with the PRI Show, as well as an Annual Congress where the latest safety information is disseminated. “Every year we make this a little bit better. Our instructors do a little bit better; our equipment and props get a little bit better,” he said. “And guess what? Every time you take it, you learn a little something new.”
Hands-On Training
Fans in the stands might be surprised at how much goes into race track safety training. Between medical knowledge, mechanical savvy, and familiarity with each track’s eccentricities, a track safety team member has to be a jack-of-all-trades. Drilling down into the curriculum for the ICMS Race Track Safety Program shows just how deep the training can go...
