54
UPDATE MAGAZINE March 2016
Off Duty MEMBERS AFTER HOURS
PHOTO: BC BIKE RACE/DAVE SILVER
RACE NURSE JENN THIEL CARES FOR PATIENTS AT ONE OF BC’S BIGGEST CYCLING EVENTS ONE WOULD THINK THAT after working all year round in your job as a nurse, the last thing you would want to do with a precious week’s holiday is spend it nursing at a bike race. But that’s exactly what Jenn Thiel does. “It is one of the best weeks of my life every year,” says the 34-year-old Lions Gate Hospital ER nurse. For the past five years, Thiel has worked for the annual BC Bike Race. Named one of the best bike stage races in the world, the seven-day off road mountain bike event hosts 600 racers from 36 countries. Thiel is part of a 15-person travelling medic team. She reports doing more wound care in one week than she does all year working at her regular job, and says there have been some serious head injuries and broken bones referred to the local hospitals. “Most of my week is spent utilizing fine assessment skills and using a combination of nursing experience and common sense, as resources are limited in such a remote setting.” Thiel started working with the event when it was in its fifth season, after she completed her nursing degree at Douglas College. Days start at the crack
of dawn when racers line up for daily bandaging needs before getting to the start line. Once they are off, the base camp medic team heads to the finish line at the next community, ready to attend to whatever comes their way. The grueling 325km race requires four ferry crossings and tours BC’s west coast. It starts in Cumberland on Vancouver Island and then moves on to Powell River, Sechelt, North Vancouver and Squamish before ending in Whistler. It can be an exhausting week for staff, with early starts and late evenings. The medic team packs and unpacks in six communities, and both racers and staff contend with whatever nature throws their way, from cold downpours to extreme heat. As the week progresses, racers increasingly line up for care, requiring attention for such ailments as saddle sores and gastric intestinal and hydration problems. A full range of health care providers attend to the racers’ first aid needs. The team travels with a medical doctor, chiropractor, naturopathic doctor and nurse practitioner, along with paramedics, wilderness first aid staff and several critical
WOUNDS ON WHEELS Jenn Thiel tends to an injured cyclist during last year’s BC Bike Race.
care nurses. There is also a full team of massage therapists to help soothe racers’ tired muscles. “Completing each leg of the race is a big motivator for the racers – they all want to cross that finish line in Whistler on day seven and receive their hard-earned medal,” says Thiel. “We provide the necessary relief they need to get across the finish line every day – for seven days straight!” At week’s end Thiel and her fellow medic team have seen between 300 and 350 racers and used almost 200 onelitre hydration packs. Last year, Thiel decided to get off the sidelines and join the race. She says the opportunity was equally rewarding. “It’s a lot of hard work to train and ride those long distances every day consecutively.” She says the racing experience was different
from that of nursing. “Working on the medic team, your day is much longer and you are always on,” she explains. “But as a racer I had a nice daily routine of eat, ride, sleep. And I didn’t have to think about much but to enjoy the daily ride.” Thiel has used her nursing skills at a few other sporting events, but says none compares to this opportunity. “Our medic team is the most fun, friendly, hard-working, group of professionals that absolutely love to be part of this event,” she says. “I feel so privileged to be part of this energizing atmosphere.” The 10th annual BC Bike Race takes place July 6–13. This year the event sold out in less than five days. Thiel will be back with the medic team using her nursing skills to support this year’s group of international racers. update