Your annual bicycle maintenance is done, your emergency repair kit is stocked and up to date, tires are inflated to the proper pressure, GPS route loaded, tracking software running, and two bottles of water and energy bars for the ride.  Everything is a go for starting out on that ride, but are you really ready for going out on that ride?  Have you given any thoughts of what happens if you are in an accident while on the road?

For club rides, the simplest thing you can do is make sure you have the Support and Gear (SAG) phone number with you for every ride.  In the past three years, I have had to take advantage of the SAG a total of three times (one for cramping, one mechanical, and one time for an accident). I have also stopped many times for others that have needed support.  I have noticed in almost every one of these incidents that several people that have stopped to render aid do not have the number for the SAG.  In my latest incident, out of the six to ten people that stopped, no one had the SAG number. Luckily, I did, and I walked someone through using my phone to call the SAG.

Our club puts a lot of effort into our SAG and Check-In/Out program to make sure our riders are safe on the road and no one is left behind.  It is very important that you check in before your ride and when you get back, as any rider who has not checked back in will be contacted by the team to make sure the rider is okay. For riders who have not checked back in and cannot be contacted, the SAG will drive the course in an attempt to locate them.

There may be a stigma with some people about calling the SAG as it may seem like being weak or wanting to make it back on their own, but if you are injured on your ride, continuing on may further compound the injury.  The SAG carries an emergency first aid kit for minor injuries, and will gladly bring you back to the starting point for anything that you feel will prevent you from continuing.  The SAG also carries tools for minor roadside repairs like fixing a flat tire or tightening a loose bolt; for major mechanical issues, continuing to ride may subject you to an unsafe riding condition.  The last thing we want is for anyone to get seriously injured while riding.

EMERGENCY CONTACTS

All major smart phone manufacturers have included an emergency contact feature.  This will allow the owner to set up an emergency contact that can be called even if the phone is locked.  This feature allows anybody who comes across an injured person to be able to either call 911 or the person’s emergency contact.  From a locked phone, the emergency contact button will be located at the bottom of the screen and will allow anyone to call either 911 or the designated emergency contact without having to unlock the phone.  This same button can be used to open the Medical ID if the user has set it up and shared it.

SMART HELMETS AND WATCHES

Smart watches like the Apple Watch and Garmin have fall/incident tracking features built into them, but these must be enabled to take advantage of them.  For the Apple Watch, when a fall or high impact is detected, it will begin a 30-second countdown with audio alert before it automatically calls emergency services and sends them your location.  This call to emergency services will start with a recorded message that the watch has detected a hard fall, and once finished, it will allow you to talk with the dispatcher.  If you have medical ID set up and shared, it will also pass that information to the emergency services dispatcher to assist EMS with critical information before they arrive on scene.  At the same time emergency services are contacted, the smart phone will also send an SOS message to the emergency contact indicating a hard fall was detected along with the current location.

Some bicycle helmets now have smart technologies built into them that connect to the phone via Bluetooth.  Many of these helmets come with built-in speaker systems that allow for music without sacrificing being able to hear road noises that are critical for every bike rider.  The key feature of these helmets, though, is not the speaker system but rather that they have a built-in crash detection system (greater than 1G impact) that will also start the emergency contact process.  In addition, some models feature a built-in LED on the back of the helmet that will start flashing SOS in Morse code when the sensor detects an impact.

The emergency contact feature also must be set up on your smart phone to take full advantage of fall or incident detection systems of both smart watches and helmets that are paired with the phone.  When paired together and fall detection is enabled, the wearable technology upon sensing an impact or fall will automatically send a message to the individual’s emergency contact with the type of incident and the current location.

Medical ID

Medical IDs can come in many forms from bracelets, tags, or even a feature within every smart phone.  Even if you do not have any medical conditions, it is a good idea to use a combination of these items even if it just has emergency contact information on it.  Personally, I have two Road ID (one on my Bicycle shoes and one on my Apple Watch) and also have Medical ID set up on my smart phone.  The medical ID within the smart phone allows the user to indicate things like blood type, existing medical conditions, medications being taken, and allergies so that EMS and doctors can access all the relevant information in case you are unconscious at the time of the accident.  The nice thing about the medical ID within the phone is that it can be a lot more comprehensive than what can be put on a bracelet or Road ID.

Ask yourself now, are you really ready to ride?  If you have a good course of action in the event of an emergency, then you are truly ready to ride.  If you have not prepared yourself for a major emergency, then I would strongly recommend that you consider setting up a few of these features.  It’s better to be prepared and never need to use these things then to be in a situation where you need them but not have them.