Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

The Teknon Medical Centre, the centre responsible for medical assistance to the sailors taking part in the Barcelona World Race hosted a discussion today in which the Barcelona World Race itself was explained and the procedure for medical assistance in the regatta was detailed. The presentation was attended by over thirty Teknon doctors and staff, led by Dr Francesc Bonet, Director of emergency services at the centre and Sports Director of the competition, Jesús Turró, Doctor at Teknon and President of the RANC, double Olympic medallist and FNOB public relations figure Natalia Vía-Dufresne and Antonio Piris, skipper on W Hotels-Nova Bocana.

Following a brief introduction by Jesús Turró, Dr Francesc Bonet explained how long distance medical assistance for a regatta works and how it will function in this regatta in particular. After the Dr's explanation Natalia Vía-Dufresne took centre stage to deliver a description of the event itself. What is the Barcelona World Race, what type of yacht is it raced on and how the sailors live during the three months at sea were the main themes dealt with by the former competitive sailor. To round up, Antonio Piris fielded questions and concerns from the audience.

Teknon will set up and manage a 24 hour medical assistance service for the sailors throughout the competition; integral medical attention to be delivered using the most advanced communications technologies. Once a call is answered, the necessary medical consultation, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up will be carried out via a multi-point videoconferencing system installed on board the yachts by the FNOB. The medical directors will be responsible for decision-making in all of the sports-medical aspects of the regatta; that will include the decision on any possible eventual evacuation of a yacht, according to procedure laid out in the Barcelona World Race Regatta Instructions.