PITTSBURGH — As Pittsburgh prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for next month’s NFL draft, the region’s top medical leaders say they’ll be prepared to treat people as needed.
“We’ve been preparing for this for years,” said Dr. Donald Yealy, UPMC Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President. “It gives us an opportunity to allow our expertise and the city’s expertise to be married up and to make sure that anyone at their moment of need gets the care, whether they live here or they came to visit for the NFL draft.”
Yealy told Channel 11 that the healthcare system has been working with fellow medical providers, public safety partners and NFL coordinators in order to gear up. Medical leaders have also corresponded with professionals from cities that have previously hosted the Draft.
Medical staff will be set up in healthcare tents, to soon be built around the North Shore, Point State Park, and other locations near the festivities.
“We will have field hospital setups that will allow us with physician care, nursing care, and paramedic care to treat patients for most of the ailments or injuries that they may have,” said Dr. Leonard Weiss, UPMC Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Weiss told Channel 11 that the goal is to handle most patient care on site, but that medical crews will be prepared to transfer people as needed.
“We will be using all the hospitals in Pittsburgh, and if you think about the layout of Pittsburgh, we’re blessed to have multiple high-end facilities spread over a fairly narrow area,” said Yealy.
Allegheny General Hospital is located within walking distance of the main stage. Earlier this month, Channel 11 reported that Allegheny Health Network staff were staging a drill simulating a mass tragedy at Acrisure Stadium.
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“It’s basically to get all hands on deck,” Brent Rau, Medical Director for AGH’s Emergency Department, told Channel 11 at the time of the drill. “We’ve had everyone on board - from security staff, nurses, doctors - everyone’s going to be able to play a role, because it really does require a multidisciplinary team approach from the hospital to respond to an event like this.”
UPMC leaders say they’ve also customized their drills, and they note that staffing will be robust.
“We have some customized call schedules and customized shifts just to allow for extra communication and extra transfer of patients as needed,” Weiss said.
The NFL will also have a command center that the hospitals and 911 will integrate into.
Dr. Yealy said that they’re prepared to tackle whatever comes their way.
“This is our chance to shine, and we’ll shine.”
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