Genesis Staff Gears Up To Keep Quad-City Times Bix 7 Participants Healthy

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- More than 150 volunteers will be working to keep thousands of runners and walkers safe and healthy when they participate Saturday in the 33rd annual Quad-City Times Bix 7.

Genesis Medical Center will again provide medical care, if necessary, for the event.  Doctors, nurses and non-clinical volunteers all volunteer to make medical care available on the site for anyone who is overheated, or has suffered an injury.

Mary Clarke, Ph.D and Director of Nursing Practice, Research and Innovation at Genesis Medical Center, Davenport, is hoping to avoid a repeat of last year when high temperatures resulted in 140 runners and walkers being treated at the finish line tent.

The Bix day forecast is for a race temperature in the 60s on Saturday in contrast to the 82 degrees at race time last year.

“You hope for the best; that everything will go well and you will not be too busy, but you prepare for the worst,’’ explained Clarke, who has been a Bix medical volunteer since 1979 when she was a college student.  “It can be pretty intense care when the runners are coming in but we usually can predict what we will see, which will be overheating, some scrapes and cuts and being asked for a lot of aspirin.

“After the runners, we usually have fewer problems with the walkers.’’

Clarke said there will be six teams of caregivers in the medical tent with at least one physician assigned to each team.  There will also be a medical area on Friday night for the Jr. Bix.

“Helping out has become a traditional thing for our volunteers.  A lot of them have been involved year after year and it’s not just nurses and doctors, it’s their family members helping out,’’ Clarke said.  “This year I had people e-mailing me before I’d even sent out a call for volunteers.’’

Ed Motto, M.D., is the medical director of the Bix medical tent.

Clarke offered these tips to runners and walkers in Saturday’s race:

• Don’t try to break any records.  Enjoy the day of exercise and camaraderie of the event.
• Drink water or “sports drinks’’ prior to the race and take advantage of the water stops on the course.
• Avoid alcohol the night before.  Alcohol speeds fluid loss and can contribute to dehydration.
• Seek medical treatment if you are disoriented, have a high body temperature, are vomiting, or are no longer sweating.

In the past, Genesis Medical Center, Davenport has used Bix 7 race day to conduct disaster drills.  No drill is planned for Saturday.

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