Pasadena Marathon Gives Kaiser Permanente Physicians Chance to Rehearse Emergency Skills

25-bed Disaster Medical Tent Features State-of-Art Medical Equipment, Air Conditioning

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- For Thad Woodward, MD, providing medical care for the thousands expected in the Kaiser Permanente Pasadena Marathon is like rehearsing for a large-scale emergency. “It’s a really good teaching experience,” says Dr. Woodward, a Family Practice and Sports Medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente’s Woodland Hills Medical Center.

Dr. Woodward works with young Kaiser Permanente physicians from across Southern California who are pursuing sports medicine as a specialty. As part of their training, sports medicine fellows must learn how to manage large-scale events, including coordinating with event organizers, police and fire officials. The Kaiser Permanente Pasadena Marathon offers the perfect training ground, says Dr. Woodward. “We use these events as coaching opportunities,” says Dr. Woodward, who has overseen medical care for the Pasadena Marathon for the past three years, bringing with him as many as 60 physicians, nurses, and other medical workers to staff the event.

A member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team for 15 years, Dr. Woodward has a passion for emergency preparedness. To ensure his health care team is ready for nearly anything, Dr. Woodward will bring Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s 25-bed disaster medical tent. Equipped with solid floors and air conditioning, the tent can double as a command post. Future plans call for installing wireless Internet and satellite phones.

Use of the tent, which can expand to 1,700 square feet, ranges from medical center emergencies to regional events such as the Kaiser Permanente Pasadena Marathon and Kaiser Permanente Triathlon in October. Once the tent is fully equipped and operational, it can potentially be used for regional and out-of-state emergencies. During the Kaiser Permanente Pasadena Marathon, the disaster medical tent will be set up near the finish line while smaller tents will be erected along the event route. This year’s marathon takes place Sunday, May 15, and starts and finishes at Pasadena City College.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Available for media interviews are Thad Woodward, MD, and Kaiser Permanente Sports Medicine Fellows

About Kaiser Permanente Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 3.4 million members in Southern California. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.



CONTACT:

Kaiser Permanente
Southern California Region
Woodland Hills Medical Center
Sherry Crosby
Office: 818-719-4759

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