PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh EMS offered a look at the bureau’s medical operations during the three-day NFL draft event.
District Chief Fred Caprio coordinated Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services ground operations from April 23 to 25. During the event, crews responded after a 12-year-old boy stepped on broken glass on the water steps and suffered a cut, CBS Pittsburgh reported.
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“We literally have a mini hospital right there,” Caprio said.
The response highlighted one of the bureau’s key resources during the draft: a mobile medical unit set up near the event. The unit, described as a small hospital-like facility, includes beds and medical equipment typically found in hospitals.
The setup allows EMS crews to treat patients on-site during large events, reducing the need to immediately transport every patient to a hospital.
“This is the largest event that I personally have ever been a part of,” Caprio said. “We’re prepared to respond from everything to trauma, cardiac arrest and hazardous materials emergencies.”
More than 100 paramedics staffed the NFL draft in Pittsburgh over three days, with crowd density posing one of the biggest challenges for EMS crews.
To reach patients quickly in packed areas, Pittsburgh EMS deployed additional foot teams throughout the event. Those teams carried compact AEDs and medical bags designed to help paramedics begin care before an ambulance could move through the crowd.
A major response unfolded after a person fell into the cold Allegheny River during the event. Nearby SWAT officers kept the man afloat until river rescue crews arrived, threw him a rope and pulled him aboard. Crews then checked him for serious injuries.
Caprio said EMS crews had to be prepared to deliver the same level of care at the draft as they would anywhere else in the city.
“Whether you’re at home in the East End or the South Hills or here at the draft, you will get the same quality of care no matter where you are.”
