Event Medicine
Mass gathering events can produce large volumes of patients that burden local EMS systems and emergency departments. Studies have shown that patients presenting to the ED from events have low admission rates and often require minimal care. As such, reducing transports from mass gathering events has the potential to protect local EMS and ED resources for other emergencies.
Event medicine refers to the specific fund of knowledge necessary to plan and deploy medical resources to mass gathering events. This involves planning for routine operations and anticipated levels of surge, but also for unanticipated mass casualty incidents.
UW has experience providing medical coverage for events of various sizes and types, including:
- Big Ten Sports / UW Badgers Athletics
- Crazylegs Classic
- IRONMAN Wisconsin
- Opera in the Park
- WIAA high school state athletic tournaments
- Wisconsin mixed martial arts events
- Concerts in and around Madison, WI
Spotlight: A Rural EMS-Based Field Hospital
In 2023 and 2025, UW EMS physicians partnered with Brooklyn Fire and EMS to provide medical coverage for a unique country concert event that occurs on a working farm. More than 20,000 people attended and supported this event. For comparison, there were only 21,978 people living within a 6 mile radius (113 sq mi) of the event. As rural communities typically have fewer EMS resources than urban counterparts, it was essential to create a strong medical infrastructure that could minimize reliance on EMS for transport to distant hospitals. This helped ensure that the local community retained access to emergency services during the event.
To achieve our goal, we created an EMS-based field hospital, where EMS providers worked alongside physicians to provide care to concert patrons, first responders, and staff. This highly effective approach ensured a safe, resilient event.
