On-site Medical Care Now at Dust Bowl

By Joseph Russell, Messenger-Inquirer 

As the 50th annual Dust Bowl outdoor basketball tournament rolls on this week at Kendall-Perkins Park, participants and spectators can expect a new level of on-site medical care.

Still in its inaugural year, the Owensboro Health Event Medicine team has a rotation of eight paramedics, EMTs and nurses stationed to provide basic first aid, including cold packs to help people from overheating and even an Automated External Defibrillator in case of sudden cardiac arrest.

Whether it’s a player competing on the court or simply someone watching from the crowd, the team is there all week to help anyone who may need assistance.

So far, Owensboro Health Emergency Department Director Rhonda Bergstrom said, they haven’t had anything serious pop up at the Dust Bowl — and she hopes that trend continues.

“The experience has been fantastic,” Bergstrom said Tuesday, as the day’s first games were tipping off. “We’ve been able to attend Friday After 5, ROMP, we’re here at the Dust Bowl — this is such a huge, 50th anniversary event, which is really cool. Really, what we’re seeing is there are some people that have serious injuries, but a lot of it is kids that fall down. We had a little old lady trip and fall, and had we not been able to clean her up, take care of her wounds and let her continue on, she would’ve had to leave the event. That, in itself, is reason enough for us to be out here.

“People come out to enjoy themselves and to have a good time. Nobody’s anticipating that we’re going to need first aid or something more. Hopefully that doesn’t happen, but we’re just happy to be able to meet that need and provide a service for the community.”

Overheating is one of the team’s main priorities, especially with the basketball tournament being held outdoors in late July.

“We did have some of that at ROMP,” she noted. “Out of the five patients with heat-related illness, we only had to transport one. We were able to take four of them and cool them down and get them back to their base line without having to send them off to the hospital, so they were able to stay at the event.”

The first night of the Dust Bowl wasn’t without its concerns, as light rainfall hit shortly before tipoff.

“We were a little nervous when the court started to get wet last night,” Bergstrom said, with a laugh. “That’s when people twist an ankle or slip and fall, but we didn’t have any of that.”

At a community-centric event like the annual basketball tournament, there’s no shortage of activity, either.

“One of the best things is we get to talk to everybody,” Bergstrom added. “People recognize Owensboro Health and they want to come up and know why we’re here. They come and talk to us, they tell us stories, which is amazing. We get to hear these wonderful stories of patients being taken care of and really just appreciating the services that the healthcare system offers. We get to enjoy that, but we also get to enjoy the event around us.”

The goal is to continue growing the event medicine team in the future, with the ability to provide even more assistance beyond first aid. Once they obtain additional credentials, Bergstrom added, they can offer “enhanced life-saving skills.”

“Next year, we would hope to grow the number of events that we’re going to be able to participate in,” said Bergstrom, noting that they will also be at the Owensboro Air Show and Bluegrass Legends Car Show in August. “We want to be able to give IV fluids as necessary, and things of that nature — just really expand the ability to provide services at the point of injury or illness and hope the patrons are able to stay at the event.”

The Dust Bowl continues Wednesday with three games in the 7th & 8th Grade Boys division, with contests slated for 7 p.m., 7:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. The tournament will conclude Saturday night.