An emergency drill will take place at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), in Sakhir, today (April 16) in preparation for this weekend's Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Formula One medical team will conduct a series of exercises, including one in which a driver is rescued from a badly damaged racing car, to ensure they are ready for any eventuality, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Around 185 medical professionals will be involved in the drills under the supervision of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Formula One's governing body.

The three-day Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix gets underway tomorrow and climaxes with the race on Sunday.

"We are fully prepared to host the race and will conduct mock drills on Thursday," Bahrain Motor Federation chief medical officer Dr Amjad Obaid told the GDN.

The team includes nurses, paramedics and experts in neurosurgery, emergency medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics and anaesthesia.

"The drill will test all scenarios including airlift rescues to test our readiness in case of an emergency," said Dr Obaid.

Senior medical co-ordinator Dr P V Cheriyan, who has been part of the team since Bahrain first hosted the race in 2004, said drills would be held both in the morning and evening.

"All scenarios will be tested such as emergency rescue plans in case of an accident, dealing with bad weather conditions and how to approach the racing cars fitted with high-voltage Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS)," said Dr Cheriyan.

"A common scenario in accidents on the track is the driver sustaining head and spine injuries, which means medics should follow proper rules to extricate the driver from the car."

He said Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) and the BDF Hospital would be on standby in the event of an emergency, while 15 ambulances and two helicopters will be on station at the track.

"We have hosted previous races without any problems and expect this year to be the same," said Dr Cheriyan.

The medical team will be supported by a total of 850 race marshals, including 150 medical marshals, 100 recovery marshals and another 150 fire marshals.

There will be spectator clinics located around the circuit to assist the public, while the F1 medical centre will be open around the clock during the three-day event.

The Health Ministry will have a team stationed at the circuit including food inspectors, who will monitor outlets serving food and drinks.

Several giant screens have been put up opposite the Main Grandstand where fans can follow the action as the cars make their way around the circuit.

Meanwhile, the paddock area was bustling yesterday as teams were setting up.

BIC chief executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa said tickets for the Main Grandstand, which can accommodate a maximum of 10,500 spectators, were sold out.

"We are extremely delighted to have sold out our Main Grandstand for this year's Bahrain Grand Prix," he said.

"This illustrates the great interest the public has in our race and we hope that it is an indicator for a record event ahead, in terms of attendance for all three days.

"We are now only a couple of days away from welcoming our fans to BIC. We are greatly looking forward to a wonderful weekend of world-class racing and entertainment."

A BIC spokesman added that around 500 media professionals from all over the world would be covering the race, which will be watched by hundreds of millions of people around the globe.

The main race will start at 6pm on Sunday, with some of the biggest names in motorsport going head to head around 57 laps of the 5.412km BIC track.

It will be the second successive year that the race takes place under floodlights and Bahrain is the fourth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

A wide variety of family entertainment on the sidelines of the event will culminate in a post-race concert on Saturday featuring global hip-hop superstar Pitbull. - TradeArabia News Service