Kevin Harvick comments on NASCAR ambulance incident
On Saturday night, an ambulance found itself in the race to pit road.
Related: Richmond Raceway ambulance video
It caused a stack up, accordion effect. A crushed radiator sent Matt Kenseth behind the wall and ultimately out of the race.
Beyond that issue, Kevin Harvick see’s a pattern with American Medical Response. He has concerns with the new NASCAR medical team.
Kevin Harvick
“It was very interesting,” Kevin Harvick opened the topic via ‘Happy Hours’ on Sirius XM Radio.
“The one thing I can say about the ambulance being out in 3-4… Is why were the ambulances out in 3-4?”
“The wreck was in turn 1. And it wasn’t even really a wreck.”
Related: Steve O’Donnell explains NASCAR side of ambulance issue
“Pit road should not have been open. Those ambulances are in pretty plain sight.”
“It could have been a lot worse. If somebody would have won the race and Kenseth winds up missing the playoff’s. It would have come down to just a bad call.”
“You hate to see those types of things. That was a really bad deal.”
Related: Kevin Harvick on NACSAR’s most popular driver
New NASCAR Medical Team
“The one thing I will say about the ambulances this year… Is we have had a lot of issues,” stated Kevin Harvick.
“Ambulances getting lost. Ambulances being late to the scene of the wreck. Not getting dispatched fast enough. Stopping on pit road.”
We still have a problem. Ambulances should not get lost.
-Kevin Harvick
“In my opinion, we still have a problem. Ambulances should not get lost. Multiple drivers have complained about ambulances getting lost from their accident scene, back to the infield care center.”
“Those types of things, shouldn’t happen.”
“The ambulance drivers are very novice about where they’re suppose to be and where they’re suppose to go. That is something that we have talked about as drivers.”
“It’s not that they’re doing a bad job at the scene. Just, getting them to the scene and getting them back from the scene is somewhat of a circus sometimes.”
At the start of the 2017 season, NASCAR hired a traveling medical team.
American Medical Response (AMR) now handles medical safety, at every track. In years past, each track had their own safety crew. The track crew knew that track, front and back, they knew where everything was.
Related: NASCAR Doctor – Series hires traveling medical team
In the first year of the Emergency Safety Response system, the crew is still learning their way around. Each track, is like starting over. Thus, the first year was always going to have a few issues.
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