Prepare for the Unexpected: A New Look at Trauma Triage and Care in Mass Participation Sporting Events

Few sports medicine physicians have extensive experience in managing mass casualty trauma. Yet many, or most, of us find ourselves covering competitions, races, and events in venues where thousands of athletes and spectators gather, and these could quickly become mass casualty events in the setting of an explosion/bombing, active shooter, or similar incident. When this happens, the sports medicine team, already on site, is in a unique position to provide immediate assistance until additional resources arrive. In this article, we will discuss a framework for this initial trauma response to the mass casualty event at a mass participation sporting event.