So Christmas is a distant memory by now, and the motorsport season has already started, with the WRC several events in, the Melbourne F1 GP opener around the corner and the V8 Supercars having held their season opening test day at the Sydney Motor Sport Park last Saturday.
To kick of the Rollcage Medic podcasting season I thought we'd take a look at the role of the Chief Medical Officer at motorsport events. There's a full chapter devoted to outlining the CMO responsibilities in the first edition of
Medicine in Motorsport (Chapter 6) and Dr Sean Petherbridge (CMO for
ATCUAE and Medical Director of the
Motorsport Knowledge Institute in the United Arab Emirates) has produced a concise handbook titled "
The Good CMO Guide".
But what's it really like to take on your first event as a CMO? Can anyone do it? How do you get to be a CMO? What do you need to know to start getting ready for a motorsport event? Does it matter what type of motorsport event it is? What's out there that can help me?
To answer these questions I sat down with
Dr Rik Hagen, a Perth-based doctor who works in ED and with the RFDS and who has covered the full breadth of motorsport medical work over 20 years, from trackside doctor to CMO and Deputy CMO roles at events like the WRC Rally Australia, the Australian Formula 1 GP and the Australasian Safari Rally. We recorded nearly an hour of content and so I've split it into two parts, of which this is the first.
All of the resources mentioned during the podcast are listed below, with links provided where available.
Enjoy!
Resources & links
