Once again, UM Shore Regional Health emergency team members were on site at the annual Eagleman 70.3 triathlon competition in Dorchester County. This year’s competition was held on Sunday, June 12, 2017. More than 2,400 endurance athletes from 37 states and 14 countries participated.
A precursor to the Ironman Maryland and that follows much of the same course, the Eagleman race has been popular among triathletes based in the wider Delmarva region for many years. The race begins with a 1.2 mile rectangular swim in the Choptank River followed by a 56-mile bike ride through Dorchester County and into Blackwater wildlife refuge, and a 13.1 mile run. More than 2,400 endurance athletes from 37 states and 14 countries participated in this year’s event. One of those competitors was Laura Ross, MD, an emergency medicine physician serving UM Shore Regional Health.
Under the direction of Walter Atha, MD, medical director, Emergency Medicine, and Cathy Weber, manager, Emergency Services, UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester, the UM SRH emergency care team provided medical care from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.. According to Weber, the team treated about 120 athletes for complaints including sunburn, lacerations, vomiting, dehydration and muscle cramps.
“It was a very warm day with little breeze in the afternoon,” says Weber. “We transferred three patients to the ED but I don’t think any of them had to be admitted. We worked very closely with EMS – they were standing by at our tent with a gator for transport.”
The team recently was recognized in a note of thanks from Anna Sierra, director of Emergency Services for Dorchester County, to Weber and Dr. Atha, that read:
“First, I’d like to thank you both, as well as the rest of the Shore Regional Health medical tent team, for running what many of the Ironman and DES staff are calling the most successful Ironman 70.3 Eagleman they have ever been a part of. We thoroughly enjoyed working with Shore Regional Health before and during the event.”
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