On Sunday, a satellite clinic operated by Ottawa Hospital provided crucial medical support during the inaugural Ironman event in the National Capital Region. Approximately 3,000 athletes participated in the grueling competition, which involved swimming, biking, and running across Ottawa and Gatineau.

The clinic, strategically located near the finish line on Sussex Drive next to the National Art Gallery, spanned about 4,000 square feet. It was divided into wards and areas designated for critical and monitored care. Throughout the day, six medical teams and around 300 volunteers staffed the facility, addressing issues such as dehydration, injuries, and heat-related conditions.

In addition to the main clinic, medical teams were positioned along the Ironman course to provide immediate assistance. First responders were also stationed at the main medical tent to facilitate patient transfers when necessary.

Jackie Mace, captain of the main medical tent, described the clinic as a fully equipped intensive care unit. It featured cardiac monitors, automated external defibrillators (AEDs), cardiac medications, and intubation equipment. The clinic also had oxygen tanks and air conditioning to help cool down athletes suffering from heat-related injuries, including heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

Mace emphasized the clinic's goal of diverting patients from hospital emergency rooms. Typically, about 10 percent of race participants seek medical attention at the tent. "What we do is we try to divert the patients from going to the hospital, because race medicine is a bit different than regular medicine," she explained. "The patient will come in really, really sick, but the minute that you get their core temperatures down to a much more normal level, they rebound really quickly. They can come in looking like terrible near death, and an hour or two later, they’re having conversations with you and are ready to go home. So that’s why, this way, we avoid having all these patients from going to the hospital."

This event marked the latest in a series of satellite clinic operations by Ottawa Hospital. For the past decade, the hospital has managed medical tents and on-course medical services for Ottawa Race Weekend. Mace noted that the hospital has refined its satellite clinic operations over the past 15 years. "When we started 15 years ago, it was not this streamlined. We were kind of running by the seat of our pants. Now we really know what we’re doing, and we know what we need, and so basically, we recruit volunteers for what we need. So it works out quite well," she said.

Karen Lawrence, a registered nurse at The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, has been leading medical teams at the satellite clinic for Ottawa Race Weekend since 2001. She mentioned that the hospital has collaborated with paramedics, the Ottawa Police Service, and Ottawa Fire Services to develop a comprehensive medical plan since September 2024. They also coordinated with Ironman officials to implement heat mitigation strategies, which proved essential as temperatures reached 28 degrees Celsius amid smoky skies on Sunday.

"There’s a lot of stakeholders working together on this. It’s a big undertaking," Lawrence said. By the end of the day, she expressed confidence that patients received care comparable to what they would have received at the hospital. "Obviously, (first responders) could handle it without the hospital being involved, but we want to limit the burden on their resources," she added.