Hoopfest Medical Tents Are Busy Locations

SPOKANE — Three medical tents are set-up downtown to deal with Hoopfest injuries.  They’re manned by volunteers from area hospitals and medical centers.

The medical tents are very important.  It’s a place where players and fans can go for free with any medical problems.

If you get hurt during Hoopfest, these are the men and women standing by at the ready.

“We treat a lot of sprained ankle injuries, a lot of abrasions from road rash, and we treat them and get them back out there playing again,” says Allan Marshall, a volunteer from Holy Family Hospital.

Three medical tents are scattered around downtown manned entirely by volunteers. One sits in Riverfront Park, another sits at the intersection of Main and Post and one is by the Spokane Arena.  Players can come and get pre-game preventative medical care, including wrapped ankles to stop sprains or other injuries.

“If you wear ankle braces, a lot of times they start to get weak in the hot sun and stuff,” says Hoopfest player Ryan Skogstad, “So I get taped before every game and hopefully that means I can play all weekend.”

But Wade Joseph wasn’t so lucky, as he had a gash over his eye from a game glued shut.  Another patient at the Holy Family Hospital medical tent got a little too much sun on the court, and got treatment.

Dehydration is something the volunteers have been told to look out for this weekend. They usually see an increase in heat exhaustion on Day Two.

“We’re just looking for people who actually look kind of pale versus the flushed type of thing, not sweating,” says Anne Heale, a volunteer from Premiera Blue Cross.

Sunday they’ll be back for another day, to help with injuries not matter how big or how small.  Volunteers are also passing out these free sunscreens to keep players and fans from being sunburned.