Dr. Sushrut Jangi, a Boston Globe correspondent, was in the medical tent at the end of Boston Marathon course. He described what it was like to go from treating runners with dehydration to treating people with missing limbs.
“We heard a calm voice from the center of the tent, belonging to John Andersen, one of our medical coordinators. ‘Stay calm, and stay with your patients,’ he said, ‘while we figure out what’s happening.’
“…an explosive had been found just a few meters away from our medical tent and could have affected rescue efforts had it gone off. Bomb-sniffing canines arrived while we escorted treated patients to their loved ones or to ambulances for transport to nearby hospitals. A few more of the injured arrived, most with lower leg injuries.
“Chris Troyanos, the medical coordinator of the Boston Marathon, sent messages to Andersen, systemically changing priorities as the situation required. Around 4 p.m., we began to evacuate the medical tent. Non-essential medical personnel were evacuated first. Doctors and nurses stayed back for a bit. But eventually, the injured stopped coming – most had been transported to hospitals.
“I’ve never been in any kind of tragedy like this – when 9/11 occurred, I saw it on television. Most of the doctors and nurses I spoke to hadn’t even been near such trauma before either.
“That same morning, I remembered how beautiful a day it had been; now, Dartmouth Street was packed with SWAT trucks and a family stood on the median in tears. Behind me, the medical tent was closed as security moved in to lock it down and search the periphery. We joined everyone else, moving away from Copley Square, the familiar streets momentarily transformed into a city I could no longer recognize.”
According to RunTri, the average finish time for the race in 2012 was 4 hours and 18 minutes. The bombs went off about four hours into this year’s race.
