A race meeting at the Vaal racecourse in South Africa was postponed due to the absence of an ambulance, highlighting the importance of meticulous planning and preparedness in the racing industry.
Racing in South Africa has been celebrating a good year in 2024, with green shoots of the game’s rebirth obvious everywhere. But a misstep reminds us that recovery is a delicate balance. A sobering moment came, ironically, on a festive New Year’s Eve with a calamitous race meeting at the Vaal racecourse. Most people have their brains in “park” gear at this time and goofing off is a natural instinct. And that’s why a few watchful people need to be on sentry duty.
Devilish forces could materialise – and did on the sleepy Free State banks of the Vaal River on Tuesday.The start of the meeting had to be postponed as there was no ambulance on the scene. There’s a chestnut about jockeys having the only job that has an ambulance following them in their daily work. So, no ambulance, no racing.Operator 4Racing has a contracted service provider supplying ambulances and paramedic staff at all its Highveld fixtures, at Turffontein and the Vaal. In a press release, 4Racing explained: “The service provider was furnished with the full fixture list for the current race season. Additionally, 4Racing communicated race times for this meeting once declarations were completed. “The above is standard operating procedure … to ensure all race day logistics are thoroughly planned and executed smoothly.” Medical staff must sign in with a duty officer an hour before the start of racing. That’s when Tuesday’s officer sounded the alarm. A phone call established that a key assignment had slipped someone’s mind. Horses were at the start for Race 1 at 12:50 when hapless officials were forced to postpone until 14:1
RACING SOUTH AFRICA AMBULANCE MEDICAL EMERGENCY VAAL RACECOURSE
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