04/27/2026
The 2026 NFL Draft came to a close yesterday evening. Over the course of the 3 days of the draft, our members, with strong support from multiple suburban EMS agencies as well as UPMC and AHN, responded to 229 calls for medical emergencies in and around the draft. In addition to the 911 calls for service, hundreds more approached medical personnel for assistance during the draft.
Due to the large number of expected guests and the challenge that presents to providing emergency medical services at an event this size, our members and our partners deployed the following assets throughout the North Shore, Downtown, and Point State Park to handle the anticipated need for service:
- Fixed medical treatment posts
- Ambulances
- Medical carts
- Motorcycles
- Bicycles
- Foot response
- Tactical EMS
- Haz Mat Technicians
- Haz Mat Medical Group
- River Rescue
- On site medical command
Each day of the draft a medical staff in the dozens, comprised of EMTs, Advanced EMTs, Paramedics, Nurses, Physicians Assistants, and Physicians, worked the draft in various capacities to ensure adequate emergency medical coverage for the event such that the draft operations would not impact citywide EMS operations.
We acknowledge the long hours and hard work put in by our members during this event; not just those who worked the draft but also those who kept the streets staffed. Everybody did their part putting in the long hours needed to complete the mission.
We are grateful for the strong partnerships that we have with the suburban EMS agencies and our health systems. Without their assistance we could not have provided the level of service that we did.
Lastly, thank you to the countless Bureau of EMS staff members who worked behind the scenes preparing equipment, supplies, and vehicles to ensure that we had everything needed to do our job at this event.
