Charles Mutebi
22 November 2008
Kampala — FEW people have good thoughts about ambulances for one obvious reason.
The only time they are needed is when someone is in real trouble.
Yet by the end of today's MTN marathon, the sight of an ambulance would have emerged as the most comforting for many a runner.
It is hard to understand but a race like today's with ten thousand participants, is guaranteed to have hundreds of ill-prepared and stubborn runners.
As far as these runners are concerned, talk about the difficulty of running in the marathon is just human hype blowing a simple task out of proportion.
They are wrong and the marathon organisers know this.
That is why a huge rescue operation was prepared for these runners for when they, say, collapsed on the track.
The operation, led by the Red Cross, included organising 200 Red Cross first aid workers, 53 medical personnel including qualified doctors, physiotherapists and clinical officers.
There is a recovery centre which is like a mini-hospital and 15 ambulances.
Red Cross Publicist Cathy Ntabadde explained that these extensive measures were, first of all, her organisation's way of expressing gratitude to the MTN.
"We are the charity of choice for the proceeds that will come from the marathon so we decided to take charge of the health duties as a way of appreciation," Ntabadde said.
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