St George’s cardiac team gets Royal seal of approval at London marathon
Experts from St George’s Hospital were on hand at the London Marathon last weekend to deal with any medical emergencies as over 40,000 runners took part in Britain’s largest sporting event.
As the Medical Director of the Virgin London Marathon, Professor Sanjay Sharma (consultant cardiologist at St George’s Hospital) was responsible for organising medical support for the runners.
In all, 39,400 people completed the gruelling 26.2 mile journey from Blackheath to Westminster.
Professor Sharma commented: “The medics, nurses, physiotherapists and podiatrists worked relentlessly with excellent results.
“We had 34 hospitalisations but many had already been discharged before the day was over. There were no fatalities, so we were delighted about that.
“The Royal family were really impressed with the medical set-up.”
Student from the St John Ambulance LINKS unit, based at St George’s, University of London, as well as trainee medical students, physiotherapists and paramedics, were amongst those volunteering to care for runners along the course and at the finish line.
Five mobile cardiac ambulances and ambulance stations provided support, with 10 further paramedics, numerous nurses, physiotherapists and podiatrists.
Professor Sharma’s advice to doctors attending the marathon in their medical capacity was to help the runners achieve their personal goals safely wherever possible, providing immediate treatment and then enabling them to return to the race.
