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Wheels of Life
When disaster strikes CART, Greg Passauer races to the rescue.
By Paul Abelson
Many truck driving jobs are physically difficult, but it's hard to imagine any as psychologically demanding as 1999 was for Greg Passauer, the man responsible for getting the Mobile Emergency Medical Center transported, set up and operating at Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) events. Passauer team drives with his wife, Annette, who works at the races in timing and scoring.
Among his other duties, Passauer helps the medical center receive patients. "If a driver gets hurt, it's my job to get the ambulance backed in and the driver loaded into our unit. Then I go out and deal with the press. I also get families in here and keep them calmed down until the doc gets done evaluating what's going on. Then we get the families back there to see him. In my 17 years, we've had two fatalities and two broken necks."
That was before the 1999 season. I interviewed Passauer on Aug. 22, just after the Chicago Grand Prix, where the most serious injury was Mario Andretti's bruised ankle. Since then, two drivers have died in racing accidents: Gonzalo Rodriguez at Laguna Seca, Calif., on Sept. 12, and Greg Moore at Fontana, Calif., during the last race of the season, Oct. 31. In a follow-up phone conversation, it was obvious Passauer was deeply saddened by these tragedies. But, thankfully, such incidents occur only rarely, and Passauer enjoys most of what he does.
"When I meet other drivers on the road, they ask me how to get such a wonderful, cushy job. Then I tell them about it, and they find out it isn't so cushy after all. This is my seventh race week in a row," Passauer told me in Chicago.
"I have a week off between this and the next race. I'll fly home tomorrow (Monday), fly back Thursday morning, pick the truck up and leave for Vancouver, B.C. I also set up the truck and take it down. Annette helps me set up and cleans the trailer while I get all the equipment out.
"In a typical week, I'll roll in on a Monday afternoon. Tuesday, we'll start setting up the truck. That takes pretty near all day, and another day-and-a-half to get all the equipment out and get it cleaned. Then I have to put water on board. We have our own suction and air, and I make sure the oxygen tanks are full. When we're done, it's like a typical hospital inside," Passauer says.
The Medical Center is a 53-footer, specially built from the rails up by U.S. Trailer, which makes only custom special-purpose trailers. A 37-foot long section expands 7.5 feet on each side, providing a main trauma center measuring 37-by-23 feet. The nose holds a small lounge area where families wait while patients are treated. During 1999, Passauer pulled the trailer with a 1996 Volvo Integrated Sleeper powered by a 475-hp Detroit Diesel Series 60.
"I've been with CART for 17 years, since its inception. I drove the first truck they had. We have six tractor-trailers now. One carries timing and scoring equipment, and our radios. Others carry the safety [pick-up] trucks, and the jet truck to help dry the track.
"Technical equipment to weigh, measure and inspect the race cars travels in one of the trailers. There's an administrative trailer where the offices are. We have a show truck that goes to the races before we get there and does displays. They sell T- shirts and souvenirs from it, too," he says.
"When I started with CART in 1984, they didn't even have a tractor-trailer. They had two safety trucks that pulled twin-axle 20-foot trailers," adds Passauer, who will get a new Volvo 770 for the 2000 season, one of eight ordered by CART. All will be powered by Detroit 550s.
I asked Passauer how the DOT treated him on the road, compared with other trucks, fully expecting him to say that he'd usually get a "bye." "Quite the contrary," he said, "we have to drain our water tanks completely before we go. When we're on the road, we gross 79,860 pounds. We can't eat a heavy lunch, we're so close.
"They scale us all the time. Because it's so visible, they just want to see it. Penske does all the maintenance, so everything is always up to snuff. Last check, they tried to find something. They couldn't find anything, not even a chafed wire. Finally, the guy put the sticker on, and away I went. But I've probably been DOT'd eight times already this summer."
According to Passauer, the Trauma Unit is tricky to set up. "It has to be perfectly level. I've got four hydraulic cylinders, so I can adjust it. They put us either near pit-in or pit-out for good access. They bring us shore power, but we have our own 41-kilowatt backup generator.
"Setup has to be done no later than Wednesday night. Even though there may not be a car out, we need to provide medical support as the teams set up. People fall off ladders or run into tailgates. It happens all the time. We even had a CART officer flip at a go-cart show and break his shoulder. We had a seat come out of a tire cart, sending the crew member sliding across the blacktop. He tore up his knee.
"There are 16 guys on a crew and 28 cars, just in CART. We also handle the Indy Lights and Formula Atlantic series. We see about 80 patients a weekend. There are 4,200 hard cards [identification] that CART issues. We do the crews and their families, all the car owners and their families, and all the CART personnel.
"At the races, there's always a helipad next to the Trauma Center. We don't start an engine in CART unless we are less than five minutes from a hospital, or, if it is further away, we have a helicopter on the ground standing by."
I wondered how Passauer's wife, Annette, got to team drive. "CART used to hire extra drivers for the Portland to Cleveland run. [The races are one week apart.] CART asked my wife if she'd care to drive, so she got her CDL. Now we can team together. With my season, from late January through the first week of November, I just don't get home. Luckily, my wife comes with me."
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