Other Medical Situations

During my work at the New York City Marathon, I came upon a collapsed runner who was getting medical attention. He was conscious, though apparently had been incoherent prior. He was at one of those spots in Central Park where getting medical attention in is very difficult. He'd collapsed just a short distance from a water stop and had three people there, a medical person (I'm not sure of their official title) and a communications person and a friend. I can only assume the friend was running with him or he'd never have found him - the friend had no number, so I'm guessing he jumped in either for emotional support or because he thought his buddy was in trouble.
Since getting the ambulance there was a problem, I asked if there was anything that I could do. The response was that since they were unsure of how long it would be for the ambulance, getting him a blanket (heatsheet) might be helpful. I stripped off my pack and dashed up to the medical station to get one. On my return, I was hammering hard enough that I managed to run past them. (They were tucked off the roadway against snow fencing.)
This was a situation that could probably have been better managed if an old fashioned stretcher had been available - some of us could have carried him over to meet an ambulance. I think stretchers of this type have been largely relegated to "wilderness medicine." His level of care was good, and I have a suspicion that he could have walked out of there pretty soon after I last saw him. I saw the medical person later, and she said that the ambulance had finally gotten there and he was taken away and seemed to be doing well.
My third little issue with medical occurred in the same area. A runner had apparently sat down due to cramping in his thighs. He had two young, attractive medical workers rubbing liniment into his thighs. A co-worker commented on how lucky he was to have them helping him.
Finally, I was asked at one point to bring some salts to the radio guy who was stationed near the spot where the collapsed guy was located. Again, the pack was stripped off and away I went (though at an easy trot this time). When I got there, they said they were low, but would give part of what they had. I was expecting a medical looking envelope of some kind of mixed sodium and potassioum salts, instead I got several packets of restaurant salt. It was for consuming and would certainly do the job, but my expectations were in a whole other place.