Macon's Navicent Health revives emergency medical bike team

As racers lined up atop Magnolia Street for the recent Soap Box Derby, a man collapsed on the sidewalk near the finish line.

Although an ambulance was standing by on Orange Street, large hay bales and crowds of people blocked easy access.

Paramedic Steve Gatlin was just a few paces away from the patient and began administering aid immediately.

Gatlin is captain of the bike team of Navicent Health Emergency Medical Services.

"We're able to get into large crowds easier. We can start patient care a lot quicker than trying to get a truck in," said Gatlin, who began studying first-responder skills nearly 30 years ago on the Macon Police Department.

Gatlin, now a sergeant on the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, also leads the hospital's team of six medics who share two bicycles.

Navicent EMS Director Jason Brady hopes to add a third bike to the team.

As Brady took over the department about six months ago, Gatlin suggested putting the old EMS bicycles back in service.

Resurrecting the old bike team was one of Brady's first administrative decisions.

"We think it's important because in an emergency, every second counts," Brady said.

Gatlin, who was on the old Macon Police Bike Patrol, saw the value of using bicycles around downtown and in large crowds.

"It keeps you mobile so you can make your rounds quicker," he said.

After getting new tires and equipping saddlebags with rescue essentials, the new EMS Bike Team worked last year's Reindeer Run as its first outing.

During this year's Cherry Blossom Festival, Gatlin had barely gotten a block from the New Street EMS headquarters when he heard a rescue call go out at the Mulberry Street Festival.

Downhill all the way, Gatlin beat the ambulance to the scene and easily maneuvered through the crowd to the patient in about 90 seconds.

Each bicycle carries a defibrillator, an OB/GYN kit for delivering babies and trauma supplies.

At most Macon public events, one of Navicent's 27 advanced life support ambulances is on standby, Brady said.

He sees the EMS Bike Team also responding to large gatherings in Jones, Twiggs and Baldwin counties where Navicent answers 911 calls.

"Summertime will really be the kickoff for the Bike Team. That's when it will really be important when you have large gatherings of people," Brady said. "That could be the difference between life and death."

Gatlin also sees it as a way to make personal contact with the public.

While on the sidelines of the Soap Box Derby, he volunteered to help push the Macon Beer Festival car that stalled a little more than halfway down the track.

"It gives you a chance to get close to the public and show them that we're out there for them," he said. "It's good exercise and it's a fun part of EMS."

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303.

This story was originally published April 17, 2016 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Macon's Navicent Health revives emergency medical bike team ."