by Mark E. Brady, Chief Spokesperson, Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department
Edited by Jamieson Scarlata and Paula Black
Command and control of an incident is critical to the overall management and
successful mitigation.
The same can be
said for an event.
Application of the
National Incident Management
(NIMS) and
Incident Command Systems (ICS) should not be limited to incidents that are
generated by someone calling 911.
Fire
Departments can and should utilize ICS on most incidents and apply the same principals
to activities such as drills, training, community outreach, fund raising, funerals
and large venue events.
ICS is
beneficial to managing just about any small or large-scale event and is good
practice for when it is needed on emergency incidents.
The Prince George’s County, Maryland, Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Department utilizes an ICS on many incidents on a daily basis, significant
weather events and just about any scenario that would involve multiple layers
of personnel, apparatus, additional agencies and resources.
FedEx Field, home to the Washington Redskins, is the third largest stadium
in the National Football League accommodating over 80,000 fans, workers and
players. The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department provides services
to the stadium during game day and special events. Approximately 60
firefighter/medics and other specialty services are on hand to provide
suppression, prevention and inspections, hazardous materials and medical
services. The stadium has six levels – Field Level, the Lower Level, the Club
Level, the Lower and Upper Suite Levels, and the Upper Level
.
All Department resources utilized at FedEx Field including personnel,
apparatus and equipment are managed through the Department’s Special Events
Unit (SEU).
The SEU maintains
suppression and EMS apparatus including transport carts designed to access upper
level stadium concourses, Basic Life Support (BLS) or Advanced Life Support
(ALS) equipment as well as scheduling of personnel to staff events.
Planning and resource management is the key to successful management of any
incident and event.
Having the benefit
of providing services since the stadium opened in 1997, the Fire/EMS Department
has compiled an extensive operations plan for stadium events.
The event covered in this article is a major
country concert tour.
The stadium
operations plan for football games and concerts are similar with the exception
of how personnel are positioned on the field level and the addition of a first
aid room at that level.
Event day for the SEU start hours earlier in prepping fire/EMS apparatus,
assigning positions to staff, BLS/ALS equipment, credentials, radios.
Personnel are assigned to report to the prep
area at varied times to ensure a smooth transition and deployment to the
stadium.
Firefighter/Medics were standing-by and were prepared to provide services to
fans, staff and performers at a large outdoor concert on Sunday, August
12, 2012. The weather was typical for an August day with temperatures
near 90 degrees, moderate humidity with blue skies and a bright hot sun.
A major concert tour was performing at FedEx Field in Landover, with a crowd of
over 50,000 expected to attend the 4:30 p.m. start of the first of four acts.
The venue parking lot opened at 12:30 p.m. with tailgating and party’s
starting up soon thereafter. Hot grills and cold drinks made for a festive
and upbeat environment with tailgaters enjoying the day in anticipation of the
concert featuring big name country stars.
Medical services are provided by way of first aid rooms, mobile carts and
mobile cots (stretchers) positioned at strategic locations throughout the
stadium. An engine handles fire suppression with a crew of four
firefighters that remain outside of the stadium. A command officer
and supervisor, FIRE OPS 1, FIRE OPS 2 and the Logistics Team support the suppression
crew when needed.
On three of the stadium levels there are two first aid rooms.
First Aid rooms are located in elevator
towers on opposite sides of the stadium on the first level (concourse), Club
Level and Upper Level.
Two
firefighter/medics staff each of the first aid rooms and are equipped with a
full set of BLS and ALS equipment.
A
“cart” is assigned to each of these levels that responds to a patient’s
location and transports them back to the first aid room. A “cart” is a
modified golf cart manufactured specifically to accommodate a patient and two
EMS providers.
Each “cart” is staffed by
a pair of firefighter/medics. Supervisors, otherwise called EMS OPS
1 or EMS OPS 2, support and control all EMS crews. These EMS supervisors
are mobile and can report to any incident to provide support or they can
address patients by themselves as well.
Patients are brought to first aid rooms by "carts" or patients can
walk-in. Each cart is equipped with emergency warning devices, as making
your way through a pedestrian filled concourse can be extremely challenging.
As in everyday life in the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department, EMS
calls at the stadium far outweigh suppression incidents.
If a patient in a first aid room requires
hospitalization one of the BLS or ALS transport units, standing by on the
stadium exterior, will be deployed to the first aid room and take over patient
care while transporting to a hospital.
The field level has a first aid room and/or triage area located in the south
tunnel entrance underneath the seating bowl. On the field level there are
two teams of firefighter/medics that each carry a full set of ALS equipment and
supplies. These teams are referred to as “Field Carts” which are equipped
with a cot that will deliver their patient from the seating area on the field
to the first aid room and then report back to the field level position.
On the field, carts are not the motorized style used on the upper concourses,
but simply stretchers loaded with their equipment. Six thousand fans would
occupy seats or a standing-room only area on the field.
Additional personnel assigned to the field level first aid room monitor
patients that are delivered by the field cart teams. If it is determined
that a patient requires hospitalization, then an appropriate transport unit
will be summoned from stand-by outside of the stadium and complete the
transport to a medical facility. This scenario is the same for any
patient that is in one of the upper level first aid rooms as well.
The coordination and dispatch of the Fire/EMS resources is handled by the
“command post” located in the south tunnel under the stadium. The command
post is staffed by command officers that oversee and monitor all Fire/EMS radio
traffic and events on-going at the stadium. Dispatchers from Public
Safety Communications are on-hand to handle the radio, phone and dispatch
record keeping.
There is an integrated incident command post located in one of the upper
suites that monitors all activities at the stadium. This integrated
command post has a Deputy Fire Chief as the overall event commander.
When the gates to the venue opened up around 3:00 p.m. there were a few
thousand fans that made their way in. The majority of the early arriving fans
were ticket holders allowing them to enter an area called the “sandbar.”
This area is designed for standing room only and has close proximity to the
stage and extended walkway where the performers stroll and perform. Other
patrons found their seats and awaited the first act that was scheduled for 4:30
p.m. Other fans remained in the parking lot enjoying hamburgers, hot
dogs, hot sun and cold beverages.
As the 4:30 p.m. hour approached, more and more fans made their way to their
seats, some remained outside continuing to party awaiting the two main acts,
not scheduled to start until about 6:30 p.m. Each performance started and ended like clockwork and the show was running smoothly.
A few minor injuries occurred outside the stadium with the engine crew and
transport units handling appropriately. A security worker felt ill inside
with medics on the field transporting her to the field level first aid
room. Upper level first aid rooms handled patients walking in with minor
illness and injuries. The security worker cooled off and eventually
refused transport. These minor incidents were just a prelude to the
number of patrons that would start feeling the effects of a long day.
As the evening progressed, just about all the seats were filled, the
“sandbar” was packed and everyone was having a great time. Just after the
third act started playing, at 6:54 p.m., I made a comment on the @PGFDPIO
Twitter account that “the activity has been at a minimum for the Fire/EMS
Department at FedEx Field.”
As one veteran paramedic stated, “that’s when they started dropping.”
The pace of the calls for EMS became steady, but not overwhelming. A
combination of spending the long day in the hot sun and quite possibly use of alcohol sent many seeking assistance and relief.
Cart crews on the field and 1
st level, the level patrons enter the
stadium on, were the busiest at first. As the event wore on everyone
maintained a steady pace tending to sick or injured patrons. Some
patients required transportation to a hospital and some just needed a chance to
cool off.
One of the goals and objectives of the SEU is to handle all Fire/EMS
activity at FedEx Field and not to use and deplete in-service units that
regularly provide services to the remainder of the County. This was
accomplished by the use of the Department’s Medical Ambulance Bus that was used
as an intermediate triage area for patients moved out of first aid rooms and
awaited transportation to a medical facility. These patients were
appropriately triaged and transported by priority.
Overall the men and women of the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department
did their job to the best of their ability under challenging
circumstances. All personnel managed the crowd of over 50,000 patrons under relatively
dark conditions with field cart teams challenged by loud music which made it nearly impossible to transmit or
hear your radio and a higher then usual number of people that required some
assistance.
The successful planning and resource management provided by the
Department’s Special Events Unit proved to be the difference from being
overwhelmed. The Fire/EMS Department has a proven record of
providing services to these type of large venue events with a
comprehensive emergency operations plan that is effective and efficient in
ensuring an all-hazards approach.
The
ICS implementation provided an effective command and control function ensuring
oversight of the safety and well-being of over 50,000 people.
All photos by Mark E. Brady, PGFD PIO
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