Director: Roger Hinze, Michael William Miles
Plot: In 1966 Medical student and racing fan Stephen Olvey gets the opportunity of a lifetime when he is asked to volunteer at the Indianapolis 500 on their medical team. What started as fun insider view of a sport he loved quickly devolves before his eyes as he sees the level of medical support given to the drivers, whom he has befriended, is terrifyingly non-existent. After feeling helpless at the scene of what turns out to be a fatal accident. Dr. Olvey sets off on a mission to build a team to apply science to transform motorsports from the most fatal form of sport to one of the safest. Over the next 30 years they succeed and the science that they develop influences modern trauma medicine and the passenger cars we drive today. This is the story of the most fatal era in Motorsports and the Indy 500 doctors who pioneered safety and helped the drivers to cheat death.
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Essential Viewing for Racing Fans
Story: Rapid Response starts as we meet racing fan Stephen Olvey, he has watch racing for years in the 1950s, where he does witness the deaths of his favourite drivers and wants to become one himself, his father talks him out of this decision, by studying medicine instead, where he took a volunteered to work on the medical staff on the races, helping with the accidents the drivers are involved in the Indianapolis 500.
As the reputation behind the team grows, the drivers push for the change and with Stephen working with fellow doctors they look to improve the condition of the safety procedures, which continued to improve over the years despite the obstacles that were thrown in their path.
Thoughts on Rapid Response
Final Thoughts – As a racing fan, the one thing you never want to see is anybody injured because of an accident, this was not always the case and if you look back through the history of the sport we have seen ourselves the lowering number of death or serious injuries. This documentary shows us over the 50 years the improvements made in preventing injuries, learning from the past mistakes, with the doctors working with the drivers, teams and promotors that could make this happen. We do have the clips of the tragic accidents, which do show us just how dangerous the sport was before the safety plans were put into operation. We do only see how the plans were placed into the American side of motor racing, while we have seen the same idea implemented in many other sports including Formula One. This does put the spotlight on two men Stephen Olvey and Terry Trammell that have saved many careers with their work and they should praised for their work too. Any sports fan will enjoy watching this because it is always important to see just how hard the people in the sport have worked to keep the sport entertaining, while also being safe.
Overall: Sports Fans Watch.
London Screenings:
September 6, 7, 8 at 18:00 at the Prince Charles Cinema in London.
https://princecharlescinema.com/PrinceCharlesCinema.dll/WhatsOn?f=13466951
