Medical Personnel Ready To Handle Emergencies On, Off Golf Course

U.S. Open

fans are feeling it.

Moore County EMS and First Health Moore Regional Hospital work together to offer medical services at the venue. They average about 100 patients a day, with most of the issues being heat-related. Health care workers do not wait for patients to find them.

"We have different bike teams out on the course with complete medical packs on their back," said Dr. James Lewis, of First Health.

Lewis said treatment at the venue leaves Moore Regional's emergency room open to the most serious cases. They are prepared for more than the usual emergencies.

Pinehurst's famed No. 2 is not the only reason the U.S. Open came to Moore County. The USGA considers superior health care facilities a critical part of a successful tournament. An award-winning First Health nursing program, no doubt, helped boost Pinehurst's chances.

"The nurses here, they care. It's one of the things, I think, that you really have got to have as a nurse," said Linda Wallace, chief of nursing for First Health.

If you have underlying medical problems, you should bring three things with you when you come to the U.S. Open -- a list of your medical problems, emergency contact number and the actual bottles of medicine you are taking. Individual pills are often difficult for doctors to identify.

Emergency room doctors at Moore Regional said the most serious heat-related cases involve elderly patients.