VT City Marathon | Korey Stringer Institute

By Andrea Fortunati, Assistant Director of Elite Athlete Health and Performance

Korea Stringer Institute was represented for the first time at the 27th annual People’s United Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay that was held on May 24th, 2015 in Burlington, VT. The race included 8,000 participants and began promptly at 8:00am with the Wheelchair participants, followed by the runners at 8:03am.

Members of the KSI, William Adams, Yuri Hosokawa, Luke Belval, and Andrea Fortunati worked in the main medical tent located at the finish line as well as at medical tents located at the midpoint of the race.

This year, there were approximately 150 medical visits seen throughout the day with a total of six athletes transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center.

Four cases of exertional heat stroke were seen and treated at the marathon. During all of these cases at least one member of KSI was present and aided in the treatment process. One case was treated at the medical tent located at mile 13 and the other three cases were treated in the main medical tent at the finish line. In the critical care tent there were two cold-water immersion tubs and members of KSI ready to implement proper protocols and procedures that have been profoundly researched to treat EHS. Treatment for the cases in the critical care tent where done with cold water immersion, which is found to be the quickest and most effective way to cool the body, and rectal thermometers were used for the body temperatures assessment, which is critical in assessing the body temperature in people who are suffering from exertional heat stroke. Once the athletes had been properly cooled, all EHS cases were transported to the UVMMC following the medical organizer’s protocol for a follow-up examination.

This is the second of several marathons KSI will be involved with this year, the first being at the Boston Marathon. Other road races KSI are attending include the Lake Placid Ironman, the Falmouth Road Race, New Haven Road Race, the Marine Corps Marathon, and more.