As ride managers we do a great deal of planning and going over all possible contingencies, and then we hope that nothing goes wrong. More times than not, everything goes well and all of those emergency plans go back to the folder for next year.

This year at our Rides of March we experienced one such event. Within minutes of the start of the 50-mile ride, word was sent back to us at the start that there was a rider down.

Knowing there was a number check only 1.5 miles down the road I set off on foot to see what was going on. I came upon a rider lying in the road surrounded by six or eight riders. Thankfully one of them was a physician and another was a nurse, like myself. Upon initial assessment it looked like she had possibly suffered a stroke, was not moving on the right side and not talking.

The fallen rider was awake and did respond. It would take getting to a hospital quickly to determine the diagnosis for sure and get her treated. We called 911 and a helicopter arrived within 12 minutes to take her to a local medical center.

She is doing well and it looks like she will recover with a good amount of rehabilitation. We are ever so thankful.

From now on, we will have the coordinates for camp, water stops and cross roads on the actual map.

Now that the ride is over and we are going over what went well and what we could have done better, there are a few lessons we thought we would share.

Advise local agencies

Our ride is located in a semi-remote area about 40 miles north of Reno, Nevada. Due to the location, and based on great advice from other ride managers in this area, we give advance notification to local emergency response agencies (paramedics, fire/rescue and sheriff) where we are, how many people, horses and vehicles are in camp and how long we will be out. We also notify the local vet hospitals in the event a horse needs treatment.

Due to the ride being in a somewhat remote area, ambulances are not typically used when time is of the essence. All riders, crew and management are provided a detailed topographical map with the GPS trail, water and landmarks plotted. This process has always worked well, but we never had an issue like this one.

Check cell phone coverage

Cell phone reception can always be a challenge but in this area we are fortunate. There are dead zones but for the most part you can usually get reception. We called back to camp to notify the husband of the downed rider and to get vehicles out to us. We did not dare move her. We used jackets to cover her until more blankets arrived.

Know GPS coordinates

In the meantime we called 911 and reported the problem. I had left my GPS in camp and even though we had notified emergency services the helicopter needed coordinates. I was able to give general directions and then vector them in with the help of the wonderful volunteers that also came out. Part of our management team had a service truck with flashing safety lights and that helped tremendously.

In hindsight, and from now on, we will have the coordinates for camp, water stops and cross roads on the actual map that is provided to all riders, crew and management.

In addition, instead of just calling the emergency services I will take them the same map so they will have references as well.

Another tip we got was to give each rider a windshield placard with their number. This way if something happened and we needed to find the rider, their crew or vehicle, we could do so quickly.

Rider responsibilities

There is a responsibility from riders as well. They absolutely have to make sure they have actual numbers and addresses on their entries along with a real emergency contact.

Amazingly enough we actually had one rider enter who had not put any real information on her entry. We needed to get hold of her prior to the ride and none of her info was correct. How scary if she had been the downed rider.

Also, if you have a medical condition or you take medications, that information should be on your person. You can get small wallet-sized cards from most pharmacies for free that list allergies, medications and medical conditions. From now on mine will be on my person, not on my horse or in my truck.

If an emergency occurs . . .

If you happen upon a downed rider or witness an accident, make sure you provide whatever details you can to those responding. For example: Did the rider fall off or jump off? Did they land on their head? Is the rider conscious? These details will be very important for emergency responders.

Another thing to remember, if you happen to find of a downed rider, once definitive help has arrived the area needs to be cleared as directed. The first person to come upon our rider sent word back to camp and sent another rider on to follow the horse.

That "finder" stayed until the doctor and nurse riders arrived. The crowd gathering around continued to grow and it was difficult to convince riders to move on once we were there and had things under control. It is totally understandable for riders to want to stay on; they are concerned and if you know the person it is natural.

The problem is that having a half-dozen horses right where a helicopter will be landing is a bit problematic. So as hard as it may be to ride on, unless you are directly contributing to the situation it really is best to clear the area. In this case the rider was known to everyone, her husband was in camp, she was only a mile from the main camp and we were familiar enough with the area to get the helicopter in quickly. Everyone involved kept calm and did what needed to be done. She was at the hospital within an hour of departing her horse.

We had made preparations and had planned ahead but now we know even more. It may not have gotten help to the accident site much faster this time but perhaps next time it will. Thank you to all of our friends and fellow ride managers who gave us great advice over the years -- it pays off.

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