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KANSAS CITY -- Elliott Sadler raised questions this weekend about treatment he received in the Talladega Superspeedway infield care center after a savage crash in the EA Sports 500 last Sunday.
Sadler, who flipped five times after spinning backwards at 190 mph, was taken to the infield care center, and emergency workers wanted to put an intravenous fluid needle in him. But Sadler doesn't like needles and didn't want an IV and argued with workers in the care center.
Sadler spoke with Winston Cup director John Darby and NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter about what happened and said he would like to see "doctors in the infield care center that we know and that travel with this sport."
"It goes back to when you go into the infield care center, there are people around there that do not know you," Sadler said. "You're strapped down. I still want to know I'm OK and things like that. I'm laying there, and they're pushing and pulling on you to make sure everything is OK, and I'm fine.
"All of a sudden they want to put a needle in me, like an IV. Elliott doesn't like IV needles, so that's kind of how the problem started. We kind of had some arguments about whether they were gonna put an IV in me or not, and then I did not want to be helicoptered out of that place at all."
Eventually, Sadler was taken to UAB-Birmingham Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala., where he was observed and released.
"It was not fun in (the infield care center) for about 10 or 15 minutes," Sadler said. "It was pretty bad, but when you're around people that you do not know and they start talking about doing things to you that you don't really like, you don't know really how to react. I'm in a neck brace and I'm all tied down on the table. I don't really know how to react to that, so it was pretty pressure-packed in there for 15 minutes. I finally obliged to what they wanted me to do and I finally went."
NASCAR added a traveling medical liaison last year, and that liaison, Robin Morrissey, was present in the care center. Hunter also said one of the five doctors who travel the circuit was also present.
"That tells me that we better do a better job of letting these guys know who these guys are," Hunter said. "That's our fault."
After Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s concussion last year, NASCAR has emphasized to the tracks the need for drivers to get tested for any possible head injuries.
"We have emphasized to all the care centers on the circuit, 'Look, if there's any doubt in your mind, make them get X-rays, make them get CAT scans,'" Hunter said. "In the process, there's a happy medium in there somewhere."
Familiarity aside, Hunter said NASCAR's primary concern for an infield care center is to examine the drivers as quickly as possible.
"When a guy is in an accident on the highway, chances are, when he gets to a hospital, there are no familiar faces there," Hunter said. "Our concern is getting the immediate care."
But Sadler said having some familiar faces would put drivers at ease.
"There's nothing better than going to see your doctor," Sadler said. "We've all been there. You'd rather go see a doctor that you're familiar with. You know him and he knows you. It was a pretty bad feeling going into the infield care center Sunday and looking up and seeing six people that you have no idea who they are. Yes, I know they are doctors, but who are they?
"We had some problems in the infield care center, so, hopefully, one day we'll get to that point that we can have some doctors that go with us."
Sadler, who flipped five times after spinning backwards at 190 mph, was taken to the infield care center, and emergency workers wanted to put an intravenous fluid needle in him. But Sadler doesn't like needles and didn't want an IV and argued with workers in the care center.
Sadler spoke with Winston Cup director John Darby and NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter about what happened and said he would like to see "doctors in the infield care center that we know and that travel with this sport."
"It goes back to when you go into the infield care center, there are people around there that do not know you," Sadler said. "You're strapped down. I still want to know I'm OK and things like that. I'm laying there, and they're pushing and pulling on you to make sure everything is OK, and I'm fine.
"All of a sudden they want to put a needle in me, like an IV. Elliott doesn't like IV needles, so that's kind of how the problem started. We kind of had some arguments about whether they were gonna put an IV in me or not, and then I did not want to be helicoptered out of that place at all."
Eventually, Sadler was taken to UAB-Birmingham Medical Center in Birmingham, Ala., where he was observed and released.
"It was not fun in (the infield care center) for about 10 or 15 minutes," Sadler said. "It was pretty bad, but when you're around people that you do not know and they start talking about doing things to you that you don't really like, you don't know really how to react. I'm in a neck brace and I'm all tied down on the table. I don't really know how to react to that, so it was pretty pressure-packed in there for 15 minutes. I finally obliged to what they wanted me to do and I finally went."
NASCAR added a traveling medical liaison last year, and that liaison, Robin Morrissey, was present in the care center. Hunter also said one of the five doctors who travel the circuit was also present.
"That tells me that we better do a better job of letting these guys know who these guys are," Hunter said. "That's our fault."
After Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s concussion last year, NASCAR has emphasized to the tracks the need for drivers to get tested for any possible head injuries.
"We have emphasized to all the care centers on the circuit, 'Look, if there's any doubt in your mind, make them get X-rays, make them get CAT scans,'" Hunter said. "In the process, there's a happy medium in there somewhere."
Familiarity aside, Hunter said NASCAR's primary concern for an infield care center is to examine the drivers as quickly as possible.
"When a guy is in an accident on the highway, chances are, when he gets to a hospital, there are no familiar faces there," Hunter said. "Our concern is getting the immediate care."
But Sadler said having some familiar faces would put drivers at ease.
"There's nothing better than going to see your doctor," Sadler said. "We've all been there. You'd rather go see a doctor that you're familiar with. You know him and he knows you. It was a pretty bad feeling going into the infield care center Sunday and looking up and seeing six people that you have no idea who they are. Yes, I know they are doctors, but who are they?
"We had some problems in the infield care center, so, hopefully, one day we'll get to that point that we can have some doctors that go with us."
