Communications

Submitted by Mick on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 15:06

Communications

Listen carefully. Observe carefully. Think before you talk. Stay calm. Everything else will be easy.

Communicators at each turn are responsible for four basic functions:

  1. Supplying information to Race Control about relevant events or track conditions on their turn
  2. Getting information from Race Control about relevant events or conditions elsewhere on the track, as well as possible instructions/information regarding an incident at their turn
  3. Conveying information and instructions to flag and response crew members. This may be done verbally or with hand signals, or both, depending on the distance between crew members and the noise level. Obviously, if a flagger observes an incident or condition requiring a flag, she or he will simply put out the appropriate flag without instruction, but if an incident is out of view (or the flagger was looking the other way), or the flag is for back-up of an incident at another turn, for an all-track condition, or for posting a car, the flagger must depend on the communicator for that knowledge.
  4. Conveying information to other turns. At small events, sometimes a person is required to fill both the flagger and communicator positions simultaneously. If this is the case, when an incident occurs, get the flag out FIRST, then deal with the call as quickly as possible. Preventing further accident or injury is more important than reporting what happened. For optimum track safety, each turn should have adequate staff to communicate, flag and respond; unfortunately some of our clients cannot afford that level of staffing. Some, such as the race schools, have instructors positioned around the track, who handle the response end of it themselves.

Hand signals will be covered in a separate section

All USARM® communicators whould know how to flag, so appropriate use of flags is not covered in this section. If you are new to us and have any questions on appropriate flag protocol, study the flagging portion of the manual, and don't be afraid to ask for help.