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Nashville medics made right call instantly

Friday, January 10, 2003

By Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- From their usual vantage point at the end of the Tennessee Titans' bench, near the 30-yard line, Greg Spurlock and Duane Mothershed didn't get a good view of the tackle that drove Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox face-down into the turf

But Spurlock and Mothershed, paramedics for Medic One, a Nashville ambulance service contracted to work every Titans home game, saw the most important part of the play -- the aftermath.

	Duane Mothershed, left, and Greg Spurlock are the medics who took Tommy Maddox from the field to Baptist Hospital in Nashville after his injury. (Peter Diana, Post-Gazette)

When Maddox didn't move, that was their cue to get going.

They didn't even wait for an official call from the team doctors and trainers. They began moving toward the field. And in doing so, they became one of the first cogs in the medical treatment trail that enabled Maddox to overcome a cerebral and spinal concussion.

As they accompanied Maddox and Steelers team doctor Tony Yates to the hospital that Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17, Spurlock and Mothershed knew Maddox would live. But they weren't sure if he would ever play football again. Or even walk.

They certainly never expected to see him on the field again this season, let alone on their field. But tomorrow afternoon, when the Steelers and Titans play again at the Coliseum, in the second round of the NFL playoffs, Maddox will be playing quarterback.

"Maybe we fixed him up a little too well," Spurlock said, laughing. "We didn't expect to play [the Steelers] again until next year."

That everyone is in a position to joke about Maddox's injury means that the medical personnel did their jobs well ... perhaps with a little help.

Said Dr. Robert Hutton, chief of emergency medicine at Baptist Hospital, where Maddox was treated, "His guardian angel was right there, baby."

At first, the medical personnel reacted to the hit on Maddox the same as anyone else watching the game: Oh my gosh. That looks bad.

It's what came next that made such a big difference.

Paramedics don't dwell on the horror. For many people watching, in person or on television, Maddox lying motionless on the field was one of the scariest things they had seen. It's all in a day's work for Spurlock and Mothershed.

There had never been such a serious injury in the history of Nashville's Coliseum, which opened in 1999. Not until Maddox's injury did an ambulance ever drive onto the field.

That doesn't mean that the medical team was unprepared.

The same Medic One crew works each Titans game. Everyone -- paramedics, team doctors, trainers -- is on a first-name basis. Everyone trusts each other.

"We all have to come together and work as a team," said Spurlock, somehow making the words sound less like a cliche.

And part of the game-day protocol is for the paramedics to introduce themselves to the opposing team's trainers, managers and doctors.

The paramedics have taken care of so many crucial details so many times they have trouble breaking their routine down in conversation. They know everything so well, they barely have to think about it.

Among the crucial points were these:

Removing the face mask from the helmet. Team managers carry a tool that does the job quickly, which is especially important if paramedics need to clear an airway, intubate or suction away vomit. Maddox needed none of those things.

Keeping the spinal column immobilized. Any motion at all can endanger the patient, so great care was taken while Maddox was placed onto a backboard. (It was an extra-wide, extra-long backboard for NFL players, one the paramedics would feel comfortable loading up with 1,000 pounds rather than the typical 350.)

And to keep his head and neck completely still, the paramedics relied on that old standby, duct tape. Said Mothershed, 32, who has 14 years experience, "There's nothing better."

Putting the ambulance into position. Because the Coliseum field has pipes for underground irrigation, the paramedics can't take the ambulance inside the yard line numbers because it might damage the piping. Mothershed drove as close as he could to Maddox. They sped off with an escort of four police officers on motorcycles -- "and I think a few more joined in," said Mothershed, who was at the wheel. He had no problem getting to the hospital in a hurry; his biggest worry was potholes.

The paramedics said the Steelers have been generous, sending not only thank-you letters but plenty of gear, hats, shirts and shoes. But the biggest thrill they get is watching a patient they treated get healthy and resume his life.