Safety First: Todd Preston Is On The Job

With the sport of auto racing on a temporary hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has allowed some of the sport’s unsung heroes move to the forefront as they assist in relief efforts across the country.

For Todd Preston, assisting those in need is the same for him – whether he’s at the track or at home.

A member of the ARCA Menards Series safety crew, Preston is also a firefighter and EMT in Maumee and Springfield Township, Ohio, two suburbs of Toledo, Ohio, both located about 30 minutes south of the ARCA home office.

Preston is in charge of inspecting every driver’s safety equipment prior to any on-track activity at each of the 20 ARCA Menards Series races, and he is in the safety truck during every on-track session as well. If there is an accident, he is usually one of the first to reach the scene to assess the driver or drivers involved.

And, on his day job, he has been on numerous runs to bring a patient stricken with COVID-19 to Toledo-area hospitals.

Much like the rest of the country, who have had to adapt to the new normal so have EMTs and firefighters.

“What has really increased is we now wear the N-95 masks all the time now,” Preson said. “We also wear safety goggles and two pairs of gloves. We used to have three of us that would go into a house on a run, now it’s just a single person. A lot of things have changed in the last two months.”

Ohio is 14th in the country in total number of Coronavirus infections, and Lucas county is fifth in the state with slightly more than 1,100 reported cases. Preston and his crew have been on three calls to assist a patient suspected to be infected with COVID-19 to the hospital.

“One of the three guys on the squad will get geared up in a Tyvek suit or gown, an N-95 mask, two pairs of gloves, and will take in a bag with a the stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, and a thermometer,” Preston said. “They will go in by themselves unless we believe there is someone there in dire need of respiratory assistance. We get them in the rig and the person then stays by themselves with the patient all the way to the hospital.

“In the past there might have been two of us back with the patient but now it’s just one. The two of us up front are still masked up and have gloves on and are fully protected. Then we will take them to the closest COVID unit depending on where we are in town.”

The shelter-at-home recommendations have allowed hospitals in mid-sized metropolitan areas like to Toledo to keep pace with the rate of infection.

“The last time we were at of the major COVID units here in Toledo, there were only four patients in isolation,” Preston said. “The rest of the rooms we open. It’s great to see they weren’t that busy.”

As a professional who has seen the effects of the illness up close, Preston has some recommendations to all of us to stay healthy.

“The biggest thing is to stay in, and stay away from any type of group activity,” he said. “Face masks are going to be the new big thing. I think they are going to have to be worn any time you go outside. Social distancing is important, too. We even do it in the fire station. We used to all sit at the kitchen table and shoot the breeze. Now two guys will sit in the day room, I sit in the kitchen, another guy goes upstairs and we are all at least six feet away from each other.

“It’s going to be the norm for a while as we slowly start to open things back up again. It’s going to be different.”