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Ft. Guest: ThatMotorsportsDoc · The Apex

• Paulie :D: Guys, welcome back to another episode of the Apex. This is one that I have been super pumped for for quite some time. There's been some changes, there's been some rescheduling, there's been some illnesses, but we are here. You we are here with an amazing guest, guys, and I cannot wait to talk to her. Morgan is here to join us. Morgan, say hi. Morgan Sweere: Hi. Paulie :D: So quick little synopsis, she is a motorsports doctor who works mainly with indie car. Am I correct on that? And Morgan Sweere: Yes. Paulie :D: endurance racing, correct? Morgan Sweere: Yeah, so I work primarily right now with IndyCar, but also all of the events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, whether that's MCA IMSA, SRO, NASCAR, and also do some dirt track racing on the side. Paulie :D: And I cannot wait to dive into all of that. But Morgan, I don't do this alone. I do this with two very good, amazing friends who would like to pick on me a lot, and you're gonna see that today. Meredith, how are you? You're wearing is that a fall jacket? Meredith: Told you I'm faking fall. In Houston, Texas, it's still a million degrees, but I am faking fall. My house is at 68. We've had chili already. I'm making another soup tonight. So we are faking fall, but I am fantastic. I know we were just chatting about it a little bit before we started recording, but I loved most of my racing being on a Saturday because now I truly felt like I had a Sunday to just like relax, clean the house, do my laundry instead of like being in front of the TV all day. So it's been Quite nice. But yeah, super excited to be on, super excited to learn from Morgan and have her on today. Paulie :D: Awesome. And finally, I'm he this he made a bold statement by sitting outside in the Memphis heat. He might he might he Josh: Mm-mm. It's per it's perfect. It is perfect out here. Meredith: Thinking that. Morgan Sweere: Ha ha. Paulie :D: he might be sweating his balls off, but Josh, Josh: Mm mm. Paulie :D: Josh, how are you today? Josh: I'm doing fantastic. Fortunately, I do not have to fake it. Memphis weather has been really good. We've been in the seventies. Meredith: Did the cold front hit you? Josh: It did. It's been so nice. I'm bound to determine to spend Meredith: Coming in. Josh: I'm spending more time outside than I have to inside right now. So I am just enjoying it until it probably warms back up again inevitably. But it's been in the seventies. Today was the high of the eighty, eighty two, so I have been loving it over here. So I'm gonna love it. Yep. Paulie :D: Well not to rub it not to rub it in you guys' face, but in Colorado it is sweater weather and it is amazing and I love it. And hey hey, suck it guys. But Josh: Yeah. Paulie :D: it is we are here to talk about Morgan. Morgan, how are you today? Morgan Sweere: I'm doing great. Paulie :D: So I kinda send you a message on a whim because you started posting stuff about being being a doctor in in motorsports. And that's not some whenever we talk about motorsports that's not something we focus on or it's ever ev even in the spotlight until something goes wrong and you you we need you. tell us, how did you get into this in into this world? It's not not a world we we know of very much. So take it away. Morgan Sweere: Yeah, certainly. So I kind of grew up always being a fan of racing and racing being basically a tradition in my family. I grew up primarily at a dirt track in Arkansas, going every single Friday night, with my dad and my uncles, my grandfather, everyone races. I race for a little bit and so just kind of grew up in that as like a sport, a hobby, being the greatest pit crew member ever. And then kind of grew up. I in high school had a pretty bad quad accident and was in the hospital for a little while, had emergency surgery. So that influenced a lot of why I went into medicine and why I chose emergency medicine as my specialty. so went through medical school, went through residency, and in my emergency medicine residency, I Was getting involved in committees and things like that, and ended up meeting the AMR NASCAR medical director through some connections that I had. And I was talking to him about other stuff, and it came up that I liked racing, and he invited me to come to a race at Daytona to shadow him. So I went to Daytona and it was amazing. It was my first time at Daytona. And so yes. It was Paulie :D: Did I put up for NASCAR? that would be sweet! Meredith: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: It was the it was one of the best days ever. And so I got like a VIP pass, I got to go and see kind of a little bit more about what they do, but he introduced me to the Motorsports Medicine Fellow at that time, which basically the pro which is the program that I'm in now. Basically, what that means is after medical school, you complete several years of residency, which is your training and your specialty of whatever you're doing. And then now I'm completing a fellowship that specializes even further. And my specialty is motor sports medicine. And so what that really encompasses is a lot of things. It's the high velocity, the physics of all of it. It's looking at driver clearance, looking at on-track response. It's a lot of things that are encompassed in that. There's a lot of sports medicine, but there's also a lot of EMS and even disaster medicine involved with all of it and the large events that we host at these racetracks. So got involved with all of that, started doing, I came to Indianapolis and did a month-long rotation for month of May as a resident and learned more about it. And then got involved at a local dirt track near me in Florida as one of their track physicians, kind of to help get more experience and learn more about that before I applied for my fellowship. Paulie :D: That is awesome. Josh: Awesome. Paulie :D: Real quick, before we dive into more of your career and what you do on a day-to-day basis on race day, let's talk to you about a fan. Do you I do you follow these sports as a fan? Who's your favorite driver in the in these in these types of disciplines? Morgan Sweere: Yes, so I do follow all a lot of series. I follow a lot of racing. We actually in our living room and our apartment, we have two TVs that face opposite because as you know, a lot of racing is on at the same time. And Paulie :D: Absolutely. Morgan Sweere: so we have to have different racing on at the same time a lot. And so we actually put two TVs in our living room, but I do follow a lot of these racing series in IndyCar. I I won't say since I work with them the most. I love all of them equally. my favorite driver of all time is Mark Martin. Paulie :D: Okay. That's fair that's fair. Meredith: Fair. Morgan Sweere: because one, he's from Arkansas, and I just think he raced very clean but very well. so I have a lot of respect for him. my favorite current drivers, aside from IndyCar, I would say in F1, I'm definitely a Verstappen fan. And I think that's Paulie :D: God. Morgan Sweere: I think it's I I think I I think I like Meredith: Paul's like Paul's gonna exit. Paulie :D: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: I like the aggression and his attitude a lot. I say what would I say would are the main reasons. And in NASCAR, I'm a Kyle Larson fan, and it's I think that's a lot of that comes because I was raised at the dirt track and I grew up with a lot of that. So I think in A lot of the series, the guys that came from the dirt tracker have that as their background. Those are the ones that I tend to gravitate more towards because I either know a lot about them or I've seen them race. And so that gives you a little bit of that connection there too. So Meredith: No doubt. Paulie :D: Absolutely. And Kyle Larson just won in Kansas a few minutes ago. So Meredith: Yes. And I think they I think he did that for you, Morgan. He was like, you know, he was like, Morgan Sweere: I agree that it was for me. Paulie :D: Yes. Meredith: she's talking about me right. I'm gonna pull this one out for Morgan. So that's super exciting. Morgan Sweere: Your favorite driver's favorite doctor. Meredith: Let's put that on a shirt for you. Your favorite driver's favorite doctor. Morgan, that Josh: Nice. Meredith: is such good branding. Paulie :D: You you need to copyright that like immediately and start selling mark. Meredith: Literally change your change your social media tagline immediately after we finish recording. Paulie :D: I love it. I love it. That's awesome. Josh: It's a great nugget. Paulie :D: So you said you did a little bit of racing. How did that go for you? Morgan Sweere: So I mean, I think it went well. I think it's really fun to learn something different and do things like that. I spe I think especially with my whole family being really involved in racing and things like that. But then obviously in high school I had a pretty bad accident that put me in the hospital. So that stopped a lot of those things from continuing. Paulie :D: Absolutely. Morgan Sweere: But I think, you know, it's obviously garnered me a lot of passion for for the work I'm doing right now, which is really cool. Meredith: Can I ask a question? Follow question it out. You know, Paulie :D: Absolutely, absolutely. Morgan Sweere: Yes. Meredith: like you don't have to get in the details of your accident. One thing that I found is that a lot of people in the medical field really enjoy it when they do have that personal connection. And sometimes it's because they received such amazing care that it inspired them to become a medical professional. And sometimes it's the opposite of like they actually didn't receive the care and like the patient care that they would have hoped for and it made them want to do something different and change that experience for a future person. what was your medical care experience like after your accent? Is it something that really has inspired you and and really made you interested in that field? Morgan Sweere: Yeah, so I think like from my experience as a patient, I hadn't really ever been into an emergency department at all before. like I think maybe once from like getting bit by a snake when I was younger, but no other experiences in the hospital really, other than like going to my pediatrician. And so going in there, I didn't really know what to expect. but basically like from the EMS into the ER. And then I'm like, why is everyone wearing like the same blue sweatpants? This makes no sense. Y'all are all wearing the same outfit. It's kind of odd. Meredith: Like they don't even look comfy. Josh: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: but I felt like the whole team was very good at like explaining to me what they were doing. But things honestly happen so fast that you don't remember a lot of it in between. and then obviously I went to the OR and then the next day I I woke up in a completely different part of the hospital. So I don't remember a lot of it, but I think for me, one thing that was really important is how they treated like my parents and my brother, who were obviously very scared and traumatized by that in their own way. And so I think them like coaching them through that and like what was gonna happen and letting them know all that was going on is something that helped all of us kind of get through that as a family. And I think that was something that's really important for me. And so I think now on the other side of things, it's something that I really think about as well is is like kind of the other side and what they're thinking about, what's going on. Meredith: Which is a whole separate piece to the medical side of it. I mean, like that's a that's a whole emotional weight of nurturing that, you know, I I think a lot of people don't even factor in. Paulie :D: So you talked about growing up on the dirt track. D is your family still currently involved in dirt track racing? Do they still race? Morgan Sweere: Yes, so I still have an uncle and my father both currently racing. my dad actually races at Riverside International Speedway, so it might be close to you, Josh. I think it's in West Memphis. Josh: Yeah, yeah. I was actually gonna ask you about that in a minute because I think they just had a driver pass away at one of the tracks in Arkansas recently. And I was gonna ask you questions about that later but Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Yeah. So that was in it was in my dad's class actually. it's Josh: man, really. Morgan Sweere: his it they race they're called vrooms. It's it's kind of like a vintage sprint car. but yeah, that was in heat in or in hot laps before the heat races, actually. It was a couple of weeks ago. Josh: Yeah, I hate that, yeah. Paulie :D: Man. Josh: Yeah, but that is really close. Yeah, it was it was close enough that I I knew people that were there, you know, at the race and and as spectators. so yeah, I was gonna ask you about that a little later on, but we'll let you warm up a little bit before we get into that. Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Paulie :D: Well that's awesome. I'm glad I'm glad your family's still racing. You know, I'm sorry to hear that somebody close to you guys Josh: Yeah, that's Paulie :D: ha passed away. But on on a more happier note, let's get into so you mainly just work with IndyCarf, correct? And then you just branch out into other disciplines throughout the year? Morgan Sweere: Yeah, so what my fellowship does is I'll still work some shifts in the emergency department as you know, my primary job is an ER doctor. So I still Paulie :D: I was gonna I was gonna ask that if you still do yeah. Morgan Sweere: am doing that. I'm working like six or seven shifts a month in general. Sometimes it's a little less during my busy seasons because I'll be traveling, you know, Thursday through Monday-ish, depending. But so then I'll work, I'll travel to every IndyCar race. and do all of their stuff. And then all of the other races that happen at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And then there are other kind of side events that we get involved in. Like every year the fellow gets to go to Coda to do the F1 race to get that experience. And then there's kind of other things that outside of that IndyCar and IMS schedule that Basically, if you're interested in something specific or want to get a specific experience and you can get that connection or reach out and get that opportunity, then I feel like my fellowship director and the whole team has been really encouraging to do that and get those extra experiences. so from my standpoint, I'm really interested in learning about all kinds of different kinds of racing that I've had no exposure to. So I really am interested in kind of spending this whole year really delving into becoming an expert in this and learning all of the specifics that I can. Paulie :D: So have you gotten a chance to go down Dakota with F one? Morgan Sweere: So no, so my felt the way that the year is is it starts on July 1st. So I kind of start in the middle of racing season, which is very Meredith: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: interesting. So my first race was mid-Ohio with IndyCar. and so I'll go to the F1 race here coming up in like a month-ish. Josh: Wow, that'll be such a cool experience. Paulie :D: Yeah, Meredith: Video Paulie :D: Meredith will be there. Morgan Sweere: Amazing. Meredith: So I yeah, if you have any free time, I'll be there all weekend. Would love to meet you in person. So yeah, coda Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Meredith: I live in Texas, go to Coda every year, so would love to meet you. Even if it's like it like it just I can come say hi. I know you're working, but I w I would love Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Meredith: to meet you in person. But very cool. Paulie :D: So let let and and Josh and Meredith, if you guys have any questions, feel free to jump in at any time so I'm not constantly asking. Let's get into it. so you get you get to the track, you said Thursday through about our Sunday or Monday. So what if what do you do? What is your day-to-day once you arrive at the track on Thursday to get ready for an event? Morgan Sweere: Yeah. So generally it kind of depends on where the race is. because a lot of us live in Indianapolis. So depending on when when the race is, sometimes we'll leave on Thursday, sometimes we'll leave early Friday morning. because some events will have garage hours on Thursdays as well as Friday, Saturday, Sunday. so the travel schedule is a little bit variable, but in general, the first day or two, if it's Thursday and Friday, are usually a lot of Practices and things like that. But what we'll also have is emergency action planning and that kind of whole debrief with the entire IndyCar team, but also with the local teams. So who's in that meeting really is going to be like your local EMS providers, your local police, local firefighters, your indie car safety team, your indie car security. And then your infield care center medical staff. And so we really have to go through kind of an entire action plan to make sure that when we do need to provide medical care for people, that we have a planned and safe route to get them wherever they need to go. So depending on where the nearest hospitals are, each series will likely have kind of standards that they would like for if we're going to go transport someone by ground, the hospital needs to be within this amount of of time or this many miles. And then otherwise we need to go by air to have a helicopter available on near on site for flying someone out. And so usually on the first day we'll go to the hospital that we're going to be transporting to. and meet with their ER and trauma team so that we understand their processes, we know what kind of capabilities they have, and also to make that face-to-face connection so that if we do have a driver that we need to transport, we have their direct contact information. So we're calling you know, the charge nurse or whoever that contact person is at the hospital to say this is what we have and we can have a direct doc to doc basically about what's going on with these some possibly critical patients that we're bringing to them. Then within kind of our emergency action planning, we're looking at routes as well. So is the infield care center on the inside of the track that we need to possibly get someone out? So do we have a tunnel or do we need, is it something that we need to be kind of during a flag that we need to shoot an ambulance across? We have to think about those things. We also have to think about routes. race day closures of roads and race day traffic. So if we're transporting someone by ground, we have to have all of those things kind of mapped out and lined up as well. So we don't just take care of the drivers, we also take care of anyone that has a hard cart essentially. So any like pit crew members, sometimes it's drivers family members, team owners, all different kinds of people. So a lot of the things that we take care of may not necessarily be injuries from the race. It may be Meredith: Interesting. Morgan Sweere: Because they're something that might surprise people is that we take care of a lot of kind of primary care complaints as well, because a lot of these people are traveling a significant amount of the year away from home. So they may not be having time to go to their primary care or their specialist throughout the year. So they'll come to us and kind of see us as for things that they need kind of randomly throughout the season. And then there are other emergencies that are not traumatic that you can't prevent from happening, they'll just happen on a race weekend. And so they'll come to us for all of those kinds of things as well. So we're there for all of garage hours during each day that they're there, that any team member would be there working on a car or working with someone. Those are the hours that the nurses and physicians would be there in the medical unit. Meredith: Sounds very intense. And Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Meredith: like even just thinking about like a safety briefing meeting, right? What might sound very standard to you, like as a fan, not having any knowledge of what happens in the medical field, like that to me is such like a very, very, very important meeting. And it's great to hear all the collaboration that happens and all the thought that goes into it. I mean, the reality of a safety meeting though is like you're planning for what happens if something goes wrong. And like that's a very emotional thing to be doing as a that's as a medical professional. It's something you deal with as an everyday reality. So what what do you do to help prepare yourself mentally for like the possibility that something something could go wrong on a race weekend, whether it's a driver related incident or one of these other off-track non-related incidents with a fan, family member, crew member, anything? How do you how do you kind of prep yourself mentally for that being in the medical field? Morgan Sweere: So I think some of it comes with the the training and what we do, but I think for me a lot of my confidence and ability to handle those situations kind of head on and take on that pressure comes from your preparation. And so I think knowing that I've mapped all these things out, that I trained to do this, I know what to do in these situations, I think a lot of that gives us the confidence to do what we need to do in the moment. and so I think when I'm thinking about going to a specific track. We do all those kind of preparation and protocols that we just talked about, but I think also looking at, you know, do I know the car? And I know the how to extricate someone from this car if I need to. I'm comfortable with my team and know who the local team members are that I'm working with and they know me. And so we're comfortable working together and doing what we need to do, communicating. And then kind of looking at the track itself. So If it's a new track, which we've had several of this year in IndyCar, then you need to look at kind of what are the different aspects of the track that we suspect someone might have more incidents in, things like that, because that impacts, you know, where we're putting the safety vehicles and things like that as well. And then one thing that we kind of also think about is do you have drivers that have prior injuries recently or something else going on? Meredith: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: In IndyCar this year, we did have some drivers with hand and foot injuries that were actually able to drive with those injuries. So you have to think, you know, if that driver wrecks, I need to also make sure that I'm checking on this previous injury as part of their holistic exam. Paulie :D: And and Joseph Newgarden comes to mind right now when he had that that had that incident Meredith: I like thinking just a big nerd. Paulie :D: and then was on the walking boot for the next couple of weeks. He was still able to race, but he still had that still had the youthful walking boot and crutches. So that's interesting. Meredith: Yeah, it's I it is mind-boggling to me as the only one on this podcast who does not work in life-saving situations. I I cannot even imagine all of the things that are running through your mind, like the checklist, the safety, the driver, and like anything. It's like it's so much to remember all at once. So, like you said, I think it's just really help like that practice, the preparation, the knowing the protocols. having walked through all that, that's just awesome to hear that side of it that like we don't ever see as fans. Paulie :D: So a as a physician, let's say a car spins out, hits the wall, we got a you we got a yellow flag. the the the AMR team responds to the incident immediately. Are you in that initial team that responds? And if you are, how hands on are you with walking up to the driver and having a talk where are you more hands off letting the I would assume paramedics first do their first assessment and then you can go in there? How does that fall into play when that incident does occur? Morgan Sweere: So generally in the AMR, you'll your first Paulie :D: Okay. Morgan Sweere: responder will be one of the AMR safety trucks. and so the truck is composed of a chief who is the driver, and they're usually the one that's in communication with race control on the radio, and then you have firefighters and paramedics in the other seats. And sometimes I am in one of the other seats acting as the paramedic. And so it's it's I kind of take on that role. and so generally when I'm in the truck, my role is to make that first contact with the driver and say, you know, are you okay? Where are you hurt? What happened? And give what like the driver's condition back to our chief to relay to race control. Because that condition will tell us if we need to dispatch the physician vehicle, which is known as the 1200, onto the track, and then also kind of helps the care center and the medical unit know that they need to get ready for certain different things. So in each series, they will have different ways of communicating the driver's condition. In IndyCar, they have driver codes that help us to kind of relay that information in a somewhat vague for other listeners throughout the world that are. Listening to our radio communication, but also with enough information that it tells us what kind of resources we might need or right might need to be dispatched for this driver. So looking at every series will have different ways that they communicate or choose not to communicate over the radio depending on what they need to do. But for IndyCar, we have four different kinds of codes. So code zero one is gonna be the driver is okay, they have no complaints. code zero two is going to be they have some kind of complaint, generally musculoskeletal wrist pain, knee pain, foot pain, something like that. so sometimes in that case, we may need an ambulance to come onto the track with a stretcher because they may not be able to walk if they have a lower extremity complaint. And then code zero three is something neurologic. So they had they're confused, they're concussed, they're out of it, they passed out for a second, and now they're back. Or they have back pain or maybe concern for some kind of spinal injury. So in those cases, we may be extricating them onto kind of a spinal board or things like that. and then there's no code 04. 04 does not exist. And then 05 is multi-system trauma, so very significant injury that's gonna require a lot, all the resources basically. so that kind of helps tell us what. what we'll end up needing. And so when I am in that 1200 acting as the physician, I'm listening to that very carefully, thinking about what I might need. obviously I carry a go bag and then I have some some small supplies on my belt, but there are things that kind of go through your head as you're preparing for a patient essentially and walking up to that. I think in a lot of ways the way that I approach looking at coming up to a scene is the way that most healthcare professionals in emergency would approach going up to a scene or or looking at it as a resuscitation because you have a lot of different team members doing different things. It's a somewhat chaotic environment. Your job is to kind of parse that out and lead the resuscitation but also to sometimes you have to adapt and do problem solving in these kind of chaotic random events that occur on a racetrack. Paulie :D: Side note, you gotta tell that AMR team to call me back. I've applied for that paramedic stuff numerous years and they don't call me back. So if you got it in, feel free to give them Meredith: Keep trying. Paulie :D: a call. Tell them to give me a call back, please. I keep I keep Meredith: You keep trying. Perseverance pays off, Paul. Josh: Okay. Paulie :D: trying. But Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Paulie :D: on a on a more serious note, you talk about on that Thursday, you have meetings with with everyone, all the agencies around. Do any of these meetings also throughout the weekend involve the drivers and explaining to them what you're gonna be asking, what you're looking for? D are the drivers and and team principals or team engineers involved in these meetings at all? Morgan Sweere: So they're not involved in our in our emergency action planning or our safety briefings, but at all of the we attend the driver's meetings as well. And at all of the driver's meetings, they go over a couple of slides that will be kind of in general the safety procedures. And so they know that when we come up to the car that we have a set kind of questions that we're asking them. And so sometimes when I go up to the car, they'll be like, I'm okay. I need XYZ. And I'm like, Okay, let's back up a second. Are you sure not hurt anywhere, hurting anywhere? Cause no matter what, even if they're confused, concussed, they'll be like, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay. Because they don't want, they don't want to be hurt. They want to race as much as they can. And so I think sometimes they get a little bit ahead of themselves trying to make sure we know that they're okay and want to get their car wherever it needs to go as soon as possible. we also go over with them in the driver's meeting kind of. procedures for restarts and things like that that help us do what we need to do as safely as possible on the track. So for IndyCar, when we're flat towing them kind of out of a gravel pit, for example, back onto the track, then we will kind of steer them a little bit. Then we have some procedures to help them kind of stay in place while we're unhooking and getting our personnel out of the way and things like that so they don't restart. and like run into something or run over someone. it helps us kind of do things in a regimented way so that we do it the same way every time they know what instructions to expect. And so it helps us control that scene and make it safe for everyone to get back to what they need to do. Meredith: So you mentioned like the drivers, you know, they're I'm okay, I'm okay. And they just, you know, they just want to race, which like this is what they're passionate about. This is their job. Like what do you do in those situations where like a driver really wants to continue racing and maybe medically you're acknowledging that it is actually not safe for them to continue racing and that they either they need to be evaluated further or like, no, you're actually not, like you cannot continue to race under these conditions. How Paulie :D: Good. Meredith: do you handle those situations? Paulie :D: And to piggyback off of that, I mean it's not just a regular patient you're dealing with. These are millions of dollars on the line. These these drivers are worth a lot. So you making a decision like you can't race, or you got to do this, that's there's there's a lot on the Meredith: Yeah, I'm sure it's emotional. Paulie :D: line. So like, Josh: Yeah, a lot of stakeholders. Paulie :D: yeah, for so like for Josh and I, when we tell a patient, no, you can't do this, it's different, right? It's just a normal person. But now you're talking about, you know, like I said, Joseph Newgard and the face of the organization. So was that hard for you at first when you first got into it? to make that call and tell the driver, no, I'm taking you out. Like you can't do this. Morgan Sweere: I think it can be a little bit intimidating at first to be dealing with these drivers because I think in some semblance of our mind, we, you know, they're professional athletes. And so we see them as having a little bit of that celebrity component to them. but I think, you know, when you think about it from the safety standpoint, I wouldn't want to put someone out on the track that's gonna endanger themselves even further or endanger other drivers. Like as a driver, you don't want the I mean, you want the driver next to you to be slow and suck in any way possible. But you don't want them to be so dangerous that they're gonna hurt you. because that's not good for anyone. So whenever I'm looking at being on a scene that I think the driver might not be safe, I think for the most part in IndyCar, luckily the car kind of destroys on on most impacts that are are significant. And so Most of the time the car is not in any condition to continue. But I think ultimately it kind of is up to us to make that call in a case where we think the driver is acting weird or something like that, that they have to come and get evaluated and have that formal evaluation, at least in kind of in our medical unit, so that they can get that information. And sometimes our testing can give us a little bit more I guess, ammunition to help support our case that. No, we we kind of need to we need to evaluate them. They need a little bit further treatment or a little bit more time before they're safe to get back out on the track. Paulie :D: And and without getting into too many specifics, do you have you ever gotten pushback from a team owner or team principal when let's say a big name something happens to a big name and you're like he can't do this or that. Is there pushback from the teams or are the teams themselves pretty op pretty willing to work with you in understanding that the health is more important? Morgan Sweere: I don't think I've had any experiences or seen any experiences where I've gotten really pushback from the team, but I think it's also that's it's still medical care. So the driver doesn't technically have to tell the team, owner, XYZ, whoever else, what specifically is going on. And we don't specifically have to discuss it with them. So really it's more so us but us talking to the driver because they still do have that you know, privacy. And I think Meredith: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: a lot of times the drivers do want to discuss it with their teams and want their you know, team manager, whoever else to come in and and be let in on what's going on. so I haven't really had any kind of cases where they're wanting to keep something specific. But I think a lot of the times it really is kind of the drivers want to get back as as soon as they can. So they're willing to, you know, do whatever follow-up or whatever treatment we recommend them. I think that's something that really does play a role as well in part of it is that the relationship that the IndyCar medical and safety team have with the drivers in IndyCar, I think is something that is very important. And really can't be discounted as to just how vital it is to their care because I think they they see the same people every time they have an accident, every time they have something go on, and when they get their physicals. And so they really trust the entire team because they're seeing those same faces. And so I think when it does come to a time that we have to say something like that to them, I think they trust it a lot. Meredith: Yeah. Josh: Yeah, it's definitely important to have that rapport with with with your medical team. And it's cool that you get the same faces all the time. It definitely helps kind of build that trust and I guess that makes the pushback a lot harder when you know the person pretty well that's telling you, Hey, look, this this ain't the time. so Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Josh: so I've got a different kind of question. I'm gonna steer a little aways from this. so we see a lot of technical advancements in motorsports over the last, you know, decade, twenty years and or so forth. as far as driver safety. we've had d changes to the cars, to the barriers, to protective equipment. so I I kinda wanna know like what where do you think we're going in the future? Is there any technology you're seeing coming that you're excited about? and as as well, is there anything that we don't know exists as far as is there sensors that tell you impact ratings, like stuff like that? Is there anything that the average fan might think is cool as far as any technology that is giving you information? Paulie :D: And to and to piggyback off a Josh, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there. IndyCar is coming out with their new car in in twenty-eight. How involved are you and the AMR team with development of that new car and crash ratings and safety features for these new drivers? Morgan Sweere: So I think thinking about kind of the safety and engineering aspect of looking at race, it's really important to look at and kind of marry the injuries that you get to why is that happening on the car from the car standpoint. And I think when I when I cause coming up from kind of the medical side of things, we look at pathophysiology and why are things happening like that in the body. What causes it to have that cascade of responses? And so I think looking for an explanation in things is something that's kind of natural in our thought process. So when we're looking at, for example, kind of the new IndyCar, the IndyCar team actually has a really what I would describe as a pretty advanced engineering and and and inspection side of things. So In IndyCar, the drivers wear earpieces and their earpieces are custom molded and they have incident recorders on them. And so that will give us kind of the G forces from the incident, but there's also a recorder on the chassis of the indie car as well, so we get kind of different numbers from that, and sometimes it'll be different. Depending on the accident. And so when you're thinking about the G forces from an accident, you're thinking about kind of not just, you know, horizontal head on, there's rotational G forces, sometimes there's vertical G forces. And those forces you don't really see in any other kind of sport. And so it's really interesting to look at that and how it impacts the body, and more specifically, head injuries, because not when there's no other sport that you're really gonna see that kind of like vertical g force in. And so looking at it from kind of that angle is really interesting because we can marry that data with our in-car and video footage of the incident to the injuries that the driver has and use that to say, okay, so he hit this part of the car and and his hand went there. And so that's why he has that specific hand injury. And that to me is something that's really satisfying because we can say, okay, if if a few drivers are getting the same injury, what can we change about this to prevent that from happening? And so Meredith: This is how cool. Morgan Sweere: I personally don't have any involvement in that side of things as part of my normal job, other than learning about it and and that it occurs. but they do have physician involvement. And so I think looking at that is something that's really important. Part of the reason that we take, you know, their their helmet and their Hans after an incident is that we're inspecting it and looking for I guess injuries to it is not the the right term, but looking for damage to it as well to help with that. And so when the engineering and inspection teams get to thinking about the new indie car, they have gotten to have input as far as What are the things that need to be changed when we're looking at building a new car? And so a lot of those safety advancements that we see on the new car may are a result of of those suggestions. And so I think that's something that's really, really cool. I think when I think about the different kinds of racing and things that I'd like to see people look at, I think a lot of the In the dirt track world, they're starting to look at seats and the way that the seats are mounted and the way that the driver sits. Because, for example, in IndyCar, when you think about the tub, your your Graham Ray halls and your Santino Ferrucci's are not going to sit in the tub the same way because their heights are very different. And so on the new car, Meredith: Poor Santino. Morgan Sweere: the tub is different. They have a lot of ways that you can adjust the steering wheel and things like that. But right now, you know, you would say say that. you know, the impact on their spine is gonna be is gonna be different. And so when you think about it, looking at the dirt track side of things, the way that their seat is mounted, if it's super tight or it has a little bit more give, will impact how their spine receives that that impact from the incident and then how they're sitting in the car based on what kind of car it is. And so I think that's something that's really interesting to me. into starting to see these Things that we're learning in the really advanced series like Indicar, NASCAR, F1 start to trickle down into these more local and regional to make those changes as well. Josh: Yeah, it's really cool. I know Paulie :D: That Josh: we we talk a lot about like the the obvious ones Formula One and how it's the Pinnacle Motorsport and any technological advances there often trickle down into production cars. you know, we don't often think about that in the safety aspect. We always think about it more in the performance side of things. So it's really cool to see that at least in the racing world, that things are trickling from from the top level down to the local series in a safety way, which is which is great for the local local series 'cause that's the that's the homegrown folk, you know, that's that's the those are the people that that can't afford to deal with major injuries and illnesses. So so yeah, that's awesome. Paulie :D: And I had no idea it was called the tub. That's that that's new terminology. That's pretty cool. Morgan Sweere: Well, that's why we call it an IndyCar. Meredith: was like I was assuming I should have known that and I was like, muh, that's new term I picked up today. Morgan Sweere: That's what they would call it an IndyCar because it's you know, it is their seat, but their seat is also, you know, the whole monocock is their seat. Meredith: Yeah. Paulie :D: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: so yeah, they call it the tub, I guess, in reference to it. Meredith: Love that. Josh: Yeah, that's cool. Paulie :D: So come Sunday, come race day, where are you when the green flag flies and the race begins? in in relation to to the track, in relation to the drivers, where where are you in the AMR team? Morgan Sweere: So some races I've been in the safety truck, some races I'll be in the 1200 vehicle. So for the most part, I think I'm I'm in the 1200 vehicle. So we will go out, you know, and all of the safety vehicles will stage at the beginning of the race. And so we they plant each of the safety vehicles on different parts of the track, depending on looking at past years where incidents have been common. And looking at the time because the goal overall is to get that quickest response to wherever you are on the track from whichever vehicle is gonna be closest. And so looking at kind of the coverage areas on the track, and so we'll be staged somewhere and getting ready to to go green at the beginning of the race. Paulie :D: So in in IndyCar this year we saw that Arlington was a new race, Washington DC was a new race. Are there different challenges when it comes to an established track like Indianapolis as opposed to a street track and especially a new one like Washington D C and and Arlington and can you speak on those? Morgan Sweere: Yeah, so I think definitely DC had a little bit of its own beast because there was so much pre-race activity, there was a lot of security that had to be involved because we're around these monuments, the president is there, we have all these extra flyovers and very special events. So I think that had a little bit of its own kind of aspects for us to navigate, but also when you're looking at that new track. the ones that I've been to so far this year are DC and Markham. And so looking at that track, for example, in Markham, the track being built was delayed a little bit. And so that kind of gives us a little bit less time to learn different aspects of the track because when we're driving around the track and inspecting it prior to a race, I mean we are driving around the track because it's super fun, but also we're inspecting the track at different areas. We're looking at the barriers and the fencing. Do all of these lights work? we're when we're looking at the pit in and and and light electricals that are are on the fencing. We're looking at the barriers to see if there are leading edges. Are there little areas where part of it Divots out that if a car comes along, they're gonna hit that divot and have a very significant change in their in their velocity because of that. And then are there different areas where we've got, you know, divots in the track that we need to take care of? Are there manhole covers that need to be welded down? Are there bumps or different things like that that we need to be aware of? And so we're kind of looking at all of that as well and it. it's a little bit easier to learn on a track that you've been to a lot of times and you kind of know where those things are, the barriers are very are the same every time, versus like a new track or a track that's temporarily put up and taken down. Meredith: Yeah, I can't even imagine. What do you what would you say, you know, you said you started in July when you Morgan Sweere: Mm-hmm. Meredith: started this program? So what would you say has been your most memorable thing since joining in July? Whether it's an incident, team bonding moment, it it can be anything. What would you say is just your most memorable experience so far since joining this industry in July? Morgan Sweere: Had a couple of really memorable experiences and obviously, you know, the the the medical side of it, I can't talk as much about that. But from kind of the safety side of things, working with the the safety guys is like one of the best things ever. I just think they're like the coolest people ever. because you know, a lot of them in their regular lives are like fire chiefs or things like that leaders in the community, and so they're essentially like the best at what they do. and then they get to come and do this and I get to learn from them. And so my first my first day ever on the job was at Mid-Ohio. And so I'm riding in one of the safety trucks with the team and learning from them about what I'm supposed to be doing. but and so I'm learning, you know, the medical response and that kind of thing, but I'm also learning a lot of these other aspects of safety that are not necessarily medical, but things that I can contribute to the team as well. Like Learning how to hook up a toe, learning how to steer a car out, learning how to how we do, you know, track drying or track inspection, track repair, different things like that. And so I think that stuff to me is really cool to learn because it's so different from what I do on a regular basis as an ER doctor. And so I get really excited about learning those, what they think of as small things. And so on my very first day, we had an incident. in I can't remember if it was practice or qualifying, but we had an incident where I got to steer one of the drivers out from like a very deep gravel pit sideways and you know do that and I like did it by myself and I thought that was like the coolest Josh: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: thing ever. when when you're explaining it, it doesn't sound quite as cool, but it was very Paulie :D: I'm a badass. Meredith: It is Especially your first like your first weekend on the job. That's high stakes. Josh: Well. Morgan Sweere: I was very excited about doing that successfully, my first time. the second thing was when we had our race in Markham, you know, usually any car is in Toronto, but we were in Markham this year. And so that race is it was a new track and something very different. And so I got to hold the American flag prior to the race. and so when you see, if you see it on the video at the pre-race procedures, the Safety team will have the trucks lined up at the front of the grid and then they all line up for the anthem. And then you'll have one safety team member that's holding the flag. And the flag is very, very heavy. and I'm a Josh: Ha ha Morgan Sweere: very small person. so I was doing Paulie :D: I was not ready for the wait. Morgan Sweere: my best to hold it still because it was very windy in Markham that day. And so I had to hold it for the Canadian and the American national anthem. but I was just, you know. Meredith: Holding on for dear life. Morgan Sweere: Really excited that I got to to do that and experience it. is I just felt, you know, like this is like I'm officially part of the team and this is something that's that's super cool that I'll never forget. So that was really cool. Paulie :D: Getting more into more Meredith: That's amazing. Josh: It's really cool. Paulie :D: of a getting more into more of a silly question. this podcast is very pro pedal award. Has he been nice to you? Because my fandom relies on this answer. Has he been nice to you? Yeah. Good good. Morgan Sweere: Pato was very, very nice. He's very nice. He's sweet. Meredith: We love that. I'm a big McLaren girly, both on the IndyCar side and the F one side, so I love hearing that. Morgan Sweere: Yeah, I think, Paulie :D: Good. Morgan Sweere: you know, for the most part, when we see drivers in the paddock or even, you know, around Indianapolis, they're very quick to wave or come up and talk to us and things because when we're taking care of them or even doing physicals and stuff, we also, you know, learn things about their lives and they learn things about ours. You know, we see these people every for four or five days a week, every every week for like six months. So it's Paulie :D: Yeah, absolutely. Morgan Sweere: it's cool to to get to know them as people and not just as as drivers. Paulie :D: Absolutely. So now Josh: That's really cool. Paulie :D: this upcoming IndyCar year, are you starting the year off in March with with Saint Peterburg, I believe it is? Morgan Sweere: Yes, so kind of in between now and then we will do some test days, we have all of our driver physicals and then we'll have some AMR safety training days as well. Paulie :D: That's awesome. That's incredible. Meredith: Question for you. this one, you know, obviously being the girl on the podcast with the two guys, like I feel like just, you know, it's a very male-dominated industry in motorsports in general. I don't know if the ratios tend to be different on the medical side of things, but being a woman coming into the world of motorsport, what has that meant for you? like, do you feel like you've had amazing opportunities? Is there something you would want to share to to a woman who's wanting to get into medical field in motorsports? Just kinda just your experience on being a woman in the industry now. Morgan Sweere: Yeah. So I think from growing up kind of at the racetrack side of things, I think I learned very quickly how to be in, you know, a predominantly male environment and hold your own. And I think a lot of that for me comes from skill respect skills. So, you know, they may not they may look at you and say, you know, dumb blonde initially, but Once you, you know, demonstrate that you know racing, you know what's going on, you have these skills and this to offer, then I think all of that kind of evens out and there's a lot of respect that I've received. I haven't really had any bad experiences from that side. But I think also from the medical side of things, there are a lot of women that are involved in this, which is something that was surprising to me as well. The IndyCar and Indinex medical directors are female, my fellowship directors female. And so I think there's a lot of female physicians and nurses in this field. So I think that's something that has been really encouraging to me, receiving that mentorship from them and kind of having that as them coming before me. So I think that's something that's been really cool. If I had to give any advice to someone that is female that's really wanting to come into this field. I would say have no hesitations. you know, I think when we look at motorsports, I think, you know, overall IndyCar has a very welcoming culture. And I think, you know, ultimately bringing that attitude and that work ethic and things like that to the table is something that everyone's gonna respect and want to have you work with them. Meredith: Agreed. Awesome advice and fantastic Josh: Recool. Meredith: to hear that your experience has been really positive. And also your Paulie :D: So Meredith put Meredith: second tagline under under your can skill skill respect skill. That's your second tagline. Josh: Skills right still. Meredith: So love that one. Paulie :D: So there's this question on on the on the set of questions that Meredith sent you and that I really want to ask you. Had your life taken, had your career and your life taken a different path and you would have stuck with racing and become a pro, is there a specific series and discipline that you would have loved to have done, whether IndyCar, NASCAR, F1, anything like that? Morgan Sweere: Okay, so I'm kind of stuck between two on this because I think I think it's really hard to choose when you think about this. I've always really wanted to do sprint cars because they're so fast, they're so cool. I think the physics behind a sprint car is just a really cool thing and how they go, but they'll be going, you know, like 150 on this tiny little track. And I think, you know. I it's also something that's really scary. Like Travis Pastrana, literally like one of the best drivers, has driven everything. He says the only Meredith: Insane. Morgan Sweere: car he's afraid to drive is a sprit car. And so I think that that that means Meredith: Yeah, and that that carries weight. Josh: Yeah, that means something. Morgan Sweere: something to me. but I think aside from that, looking, I would like to do something maybe with maybe like sports car racing, definitely something on like a road course because I think the just the anatomy of the track and doing all of the turns. Like it was something like I think maybe maybe it was Senna or Andretti or someone else said at some point that was like the straight shows you who the car is. the turns show you who the driver is. And so I Meredith: Ooh. Morgan Sweere: think that to me, like the the road courses and stuff, like that's something that I think to master that would just be so cool. and just also so fun. Like being able to be like at Laguna Seca and go down the corkscrew in a race car would just be like like Meredith: It's so badass. I love it. Josh: Yeah. We still cool. Morgan Sweere: I just can't even even just doing it in the the medical car is like just mind blowing and the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. But yeah, I think that would be super cool. Paulie :D: So as a as a fan, as a fan of motorsports as a whole, is there a track that you would love to go to as a fan to watch a race at? It doesn't it doesn't have to be in the States, anywhere around the world that you're like, that's on the bucket list to go do. Morgan Sweere: So I really want I was most excited about going to Laguna Seca and it was with IndyCar and it was even better than I thought it was. I think Japan with F1 would be a really cool track to go to. I think that would be Paulie :D: yes. Josh: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: absolutely sick. I think also like Meredith: Plan for twenty twenty seven. Morgan Sweere: I think also like Le Mans, like everybody would love to go to that and see that. I think also something that I would really I would really love to see Pikes Peak. I think that would be a really cool race to see and just like a place to be at. so yeah. Paulie :D: Hey, that's they're here. That's awesome. Morgan Sweere: I know, I know. But yeah, I think those are probably probably pretty high up for me. Meredith: A recent Colorado in. Colorado Colorado. What are you? Paulie :D: Yeah, I don't know. Recently a Colorado resident. Well Meredith: We'll Okay, we'll call we'll call you a Coloradoan. So now he's just Josh: There you go. Meredith: rubbing in the cool weather and you know, it's a bummer 'cause I when he moved to Denver, the first thing I wanted to tell him was to go out to watch the racing at Vandamere Speedway, which is out a little bit west of Denver, because they used to have all kinds of racing. And that was why my mom lived loved living so close because she was like, they're what are we doing this week? And we're gonna go watch racing at Vandermere. So it's just such a bummer for you, Paul, that They shut all that down right before you move there. Paulie :D: Twenty minutes. Morgan Sweere: Maybe Indycar will come back to you in the future. Paulie :D: I keep hearing rumors that Indy Josh: There you Paulie :D: Carr wants to do a street track here in Denver, which would be sweet. But also there's Meredith: Would be in Paulie :D: there's a dirt track. It's called the Colorado Speedway. It's like twenty five minutes from my apartment that I've been wanting to go to. Yeah. Morgan Sweere: You gotta go. Meredith: So cool. Gotta Josh: Alright, well I've got w Ooh I got one. well I was gonna say the same thing. Meredith: go. Okay, I have a final question for you, more. sorry, go ahead. Josh, you go. I've asked more. Josh: All right, so I was gonna bring up the the unfortunate event near me. we had a a driver pass away at a at a dirt trek race. so something well, I know, but I've I've got a good question that goes with it. hey, yeah, and and it is. Paulie :D: Way to be a bummer. Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Meredith: That's the reality of this job though. Yeah. Morgan Sweere: I mean, part of that, I think when you think about kind of motorsports safety and medicine, you know, I think some people will be like, it's safe enough, no one's getting hurt. But I think, you know, especially in these more like local and regional series, there are, you know, still significant injuries and fatalities every year. So it's unfortunate, Josh: Yeah, and so that's Morgan Sweere: but that's why we why we do what we do. Josh: Yeah, so that's part of one of my what the question I have is is I I understand from from that event they they didn't have on track medical, they didn't have an ambulance on standby. There's a very a bunch of variables that can we can be discussed at length. But what my question really is, is as a a provider, a paramedic level provider, what should I or any other responder be doing or looking for when we respond to an on track incident? what would you like to see as from from a physician level, what would you like to see your initial responders have done or have recognized pr prior to you getting there or us making it to an ER? Paulie :D: That's a good question. Meredith: That's great. Morgan Sweere: Yeah. So I think some of it for me, I think, you know, when you look at track response. So there is literature that says that having someone who's been trained in motorsport specific response improves outcomes versus someone that's never been on a racetrack or XYZ before. So I think, you know, kind of just knowing that general like don't go to the bathroom during green flag, which You know, like might be something that is some things that are like second nature to us because we've seen this so many times, but like someone that's never that didn't, you know, grow up at a racetrack, they they might not know these things. And so looking at kind of what I would want look going up to a scene, like first of all, like I love seeing appropriate PPE on track staff. I love it more than anything. I love when everyone is in a fire suit, they have SFI shoes, gloves, a balaclava, a helmet. I love that more than anything because I think a lot of the times I d what I don't like seeing is someone in jeans and a t-shirt responding to a very large fire or something like that because then I'm scared that we're gonna create more patients. It's it you can't save someone else if you're not ready to go. And so, you know, having that is something that is of like a baseline, like a bare minimum for me when it comes to track safety. And so when you're approaching that car, you want to think about the resources that you have and bring with you. So if you'll notice track safety on track, they're not hugging a very large medical bag that they take with them because there's only so many things that you're gonna do on the track. so when I think about what I have in my very small kit, I have, you know, some airway stuff, you know, an NPA, I've got tourniquets, a couple of bandages, like some a a needle D for decompression, like very basic. This is what I do need to do to get them into the ambulance, and then we can expand into more complex things. And so I think when I'm looking at a driver, My first thing is, okay, do I need to do a rapid extrication? So my first thing is ch Things when I would do a rapid extrication are when the driver is like unstable or the scene is so unstable that you have to get them out, like the car's on fire. basically, other than that, it's like the driver is unconscious, the driver is not breathing. Something like that where I can't do a controlled extrication where I put them on a spine board and and do these things, cut the car to get them out in a safe way, if I'm concerned about that kind of thing. So thinking about that is number one. if you can't, if you don't need to do a rushed extrication, then doing a controlled extrication is the next safest option. So if you're concerned about Like to the them to the point that you need to put them on a spinal board, knowing where your chassis cut points are on the car and being able to get them out safely. And then basically from the point that you get them out of the car, for me, I feel like that makes things a lot more simple. because at that point it's it's just a patient. I recommend getting them into the ambulance before doing too much because. you don't want to be, you know, exposing patients or doing things on on that that other people can see or are televised that are are more of a private nature. So I think trying to get them mostly out of the car in a safe and controlled way is is the most important thing that you can do in that case. Josh: It's young. Paulie :D: That is awesome. Piggy, Morgan Sweere: I think Paulie :D: go ahead, go ahead. Morgan Sweere: I was gonna say in that case, I'm not sure exactly what they walked up to on the scene, but I think for me, even if I walk up to a scene with a driver and I think that, you know, there's no way that this person is gonna make it through this, you know, you don't know. And so, you know, it's still your job to, you know, try your hardest, do everything that you can, leave it all out there, you know, like. Josh: Absolutely. Morgan Sweere: Exhaust every resource that you have because you know, that person has family. Josh: Yeah, that's what we're there do. Yeah, I get that. Paulie :D: Piggybacking off what you were talking about and preparedness, we always talk, we always think about drivers and you know, indie car the majority of indie cars throughout the summer, right? We think of Nashville and how hot it is in July, and we talk about how hot it is on track for the drivers. But for you and the whole medical team, you guys have to be suited and booted and ready to go at the blink of an eye, because from start to finish, you never know when an incident's gonna happen. How do you deal with the heat with everything you have to wear and making sure you still stay hydrated without having to go, my God, I gotta run to the bathroom quick because an incident might happen. How do you deal with the heat and the rest of the AMR team? Morgan Sweere: So I think the biggest thing is that we're in an AC vehicle for a good portion of the race versus being out Paulie :D: No not to rub it into the drivers. Morgan Sweere: open in the sun with no with no air other than like the limited ventilation they get. So I think that does play a big role in it. But I think also like we talk every race about hydration and making sure that we're preparing for these things, you know, in the way that anyone would. prior to to going out and doing something like that. So I think that's a big part of it. But I think also when we think about these kinds of of races, we've got to really be looking at, you know, for example, at Milwaukee, we ended up doing two races in one day. So you have to think about, you know, okay, on this second race, the drivers are already, you know, spent a little bit. They're already have lost that much fluid. and so whenever you're looking at a race or thinking about what we do to think about possible things that could occur when we think about heat illness and things like that, we kind of think of those things. And at the end of every race, we the AMR guys on pit row and the 1200 will go down and personally lay eyes on every driver. Okay, are they okay? do they look like they're doing okay? They're out of the car walking around, drinking water, talking to their team. Or are they like sat down and look like they're Meredith: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: struggling? And so you know, looking at those kinds of things is something that we do to kind of monitor them after the race because you know, during the race, a lot of team members and obviously the drivers, even if they do feel ill, are not going to come in during the race. And so sometimes you'll get people after the race that they've been struggling throughout the race, out on pit row or in the car or whatever. And they're just now wanting to come in because they really wanted to make it for their team because they want it that bad. And you know, so they'll they'll try to push it as hard as they can until the end and then end up coming into us. So we try to monitor as much as we can and and try to prevent those things. Meredith: Yep. There's so much on that preventative care side. I think that was one of my biggest takeaways from what you've shared today is just how much goes in on the preventative care side. I mean, when it comes to proper hydration, preparation for the heat, nutrition, like there are all those kinds of things that drivers, teams, staff members have to think about that lead up to a a big weekend that takes a lot of planning and coordination for the safety aspect. Because like you said, like the hope is never That there's a safety incident or a crash or something like that. The hope is that the all the prep work never has to come to fruition. But the reality is like that's what you're there for. And it's great to hear all the preventative stuff that goes in. I think I have one final question. what is something that fans may be surprised to know about, you know. what you see behind the scenes or just kind of something that has really surprised you as you've joined the industry, like what's something that would kind of maybe be shocking or surprising for us to know from behind the scenes? Morgan Sweere: I think from the behind the scenes standpoint, there's a lot from the safety of medical standpoint that people don't see. And so I think really just kind of the the the training that goes into everything before that green flag that goes into okay, we're recruiting all of these people, we're getting supplies for the truck, we're getting supplies for the medical unit, we're getting all of these staff, we're doing trainings, we're doing driver physicals, we're coming up with an emergency plan, we're visiting the hospital, we're coordinating everything with everyone, we're inspecting the track, we're inspecting all of the cars. We're looking at the from the engineering side of things and like all of those things that lead up to the green flag so that we can be ready when there's any other kind of flag. And so I think leading up to all of that, I think people see, you know, this well-oiled machine That comes out and responds on the track and is ready and does things in this regimented manner very quickly and gets things done. but all of that training and preparation that came before it to help us get to that level. and so I think that's something that does take, you know, a lot of, a lot of effort. And you know, the AMR safety team and and IndyCarr have been. really good at that. I think of them as like very high level responders. So obviously I came here to learn from them for the year. But Meredith: Yeah. Morgan Sweere: you know, I think that just says a lot about how much they care. Meredith: Yeah. I am like now I'm and now I'm thinking we have a third pitch here. Netflix, now we need a motorsport series on indie car K, not 100 days to Indy. We need, we need an we need a behind the scenes of indie car, including all of this amazing medical and safety prep that Morgan just highlighted. Like I would nerd out binge that in one sitting to see the behind the scenes of all the preparation. Because, like you said, like that. W y you know, we there's so much that happens that at fan as fans we don't see we just see the green light go. And I would be so excited to be a fly on the wall to to watch that. Netflix pick that up. We'll we'll do some coverage. Paulie :D: And and And that's exactly what I was gonna say. You know, you go to an event and we've all been to racist as fans, and you just you look for the you you're there for the spectacle, you're there for the lights, the glamour, the glitz, everything. But Josh and I would understand this more than more than anyone else. As first responders, you're you're a second thought until something happens. And as fans, you don't think about, I wonder wonder where the AMR team is. It's you're the unsung heroes and really, you know, somebody that should be spotlighted more. on these race days. And I think it was awesome that you were willing to come on with us and and tell us about that. And something that the three of us as fans next time we go to an event are going to be looking at more closely and just seeing what you guys do. And and that's awesome. And for the three of us from the bottom of our hearts, we can't thank you enough for taking time out of your busy day and your busy schedule to join us and and talk to us about what you do. And so we we we we thank you a lot. Meredith: Yeah. Is there anything Morgan Sweere: Yeah. Meredith: that you didn't get to share that you would like to share? Like, you know, a moment for our tiny platform to get out to the world, but is there anything Morgan Sweere: Ha ha ha. Meredith: about the industry that you would like to share that we didn't ask you about? Morgan Sweere: nothing specific. I think really for me, really starting, you know, in these positions that I have and where I want to go with things, the whole reason that I even started my, you know, little motorsports doctor page is that I really wanted to educate people about motorsports medicine and safety and you know, teach people more about it. Cause I think, you know, even if that one little tidbit from something that I made makes a difference in somebody's outcome somewhere or teaches them something they didn't know to prevent something, that really means something to me. So I think that's something that really is the main thing that that I wanted to share. Paulie :D: And and for she didn't plug it, but I will. She is at that motorsports doc on all her social medias. must follow, a great follow all the great content that she puts out. All Meredith: And we'll tag her in videos after for sure. Paulie :D: the all the content that she puts out is awesome. And it's one of the reasons why I took the leap of faith and I sent her a message. And thankfully she was able to agree to to join us. So again, I cannot thank you enough. Meredith: Okay, well thank you so much everybody. We will be back next week with another episode. We will post clips throughout the week. Morgan again, thank you so much for your time and we'll Josh: Thank you. Meredith: all be talking soon. Thanks everybody. Paulie :D: Thank you so much guys. Take care.