st. Petersburg – IndyCar race begins, highly trained medical and safety teams are ready to respond to crashes in seconds, ensuring drivers, crews and staff receive expert care at every stop on the Series Calendar.
At the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, the IndyCar Medical Unit and the American Medical Response (AMR) safety team operate behind the scenes to deal with the momentary dangers of high-speed racing.
The fire in members of the IndyCar Medical and Safety Team hangs on Saturday at a mobile medical unit in downtown St. Petersburg. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Introduced in 2023 in collaboration with Indiana University Health, IndyCar’s mobile medical unit provides consistent trackside emergency care throughout the season. Leading by Dr. Julia Weiser, it serves as both an emergency care center and a trauma facility.
IndyCar Medical Director Dr. Julia Weiser will grab his helmet and gear on Saturday ahead of Saturday’s practice session. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Tracy Ballard, clinical operations manager for IU Health, INIDYCAR Medical Unit, shows some of the equipment used in the mobile medical unit on Saturday. (Lewis Santana|Times)
New feature for 2025, Sports Neurologist Dr. Bert Vargas joined the team to bring his expertise in concussion management. His pupilometer can detect nerve damage by measuring pupil response, a critical tool when a crash exerts force of up to 80 g.
Dr. Bert Vargas, a medical team neurologist at IndyCar, looks like a pupilometer to help diagnose concussions on Saturday at the Mobile Medical Unit. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Within the fully equipped medical unit, doctors have access to hospital beds, portable x-ray panels, resuscitation carts and orthopedic care products. The video surveillance system allows teams to watch the race in real time, ensuring immediate medical response when needed.
AMR IndyCar Safety Team member trailers and response trucks are parked on Saturday at the trackside in downtown St. Petersburg. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Before the driver reaches the medical unit, they meet the AMR IndyCar safety team, which will arrive at the crash site within 15-30 seconds. Three teams were strategically placed at the St. Petersburg Street Circuit for quick response.
Beyond crash response, safety teams handle fire, debris cleaning and tracking repairs, ensuring your race resume is safe. A special “shoehorn” extraction device allows for safe removal of the driver while maintaining spinal fixation.
AMR IndyCar safety team members Brian Cuneo and Chris Nodine show the professional backboard of teammate Scott Elliott, who will be used to extract drivers from the car while maintaining spinal fixation on Saturday. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Each of the three AMR tracks has a different emergency tool. The two have an escape device that allows them to sweep the IndyCar cockpit, and one handles oil and fuel cleaning. Additional ambulances and medical helicopters are always on standby.
Chris Nodine, a crew member of the AMR IndyCar safety team, will check out the mining equipment installed behind the team’s response vehicle before the start of practice on Saturday morning. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Chris Nodine, a crew member of the AMR Indycar Safety team, sits behind the wheels of a specially equipped emergency response vehicle before practice Saturday morning. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Members of the AMR IndyCar safety team will be monitored from near the track during Saturday morning practice. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Chris Nodine, crew of the AMR Indycar Safety team, will chat in a specially equipped emergency response vehicle prior to the start of Saturday morning. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Chris Nodine, crew of the AMR Safety Team, shows a professional backboard similar to the shoehorn used to extract drivers from the car while maintaining spinal fixation on Saturday. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Safety 2 will patrol the racetrack for debris and dangers before the start of Saturday’s qualifying round. (Lewis Santana|Times)
An important part of the operation is the Unit 1200, a Honda pilot driven by rally racer Gail Truth.
Driver Gale Truth will chat with Dr. Angela Fieghe in the response vehicle before practice Saturday morning. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Drivers Gale Truth, right, and Dr. Angela Feiger prepare the equipment before practice Saturday morning. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Unit 1200 of the INDYCAR Medical Team will respond to incidents during full course notices on Sunday. (Lewis Santana|Times)
IndyCar’s medical and safety teams will research every incident and constantly improve safety measures, driver protection and response times.
While fans watch the speed and strategy unfold, these unnamed heroes are ready and guarantee that help will arrive in seconds rather than minutes when something unthinkable happens.
Members of the AMR IndyCar Safety Team will meet for prayers before the race begins on Sunday. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Members of the AMR IndyCar Safety Team will meet for prayers before the race begins on Sunday. (Lewis Santana|Times)
IndyCar Medical Director Dr. Julia Weiser meets with Alex Rodriguez before the start of the race on Sunday. Rodriguez got into the back seat of the pace car. (Lewis Santana|Times)
Alex Rodriguez will meet with members of the AMR IndyCar safety team before the race on Sunday. (Lewis Santana|Times)
![The fire in members of the IndyCar Medical and Safety Team hangs on Saturday at a mobile medical unit in downtown St. Petersburg.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 620 413"/%3E "The fire in members of the IndyCar Medical and Safety Team hangs on Saturday at a mobile medical unit in downtown St. Petersburg.")
