Main Line Health medical staff care for fans during March Madness

Thousands of Villanova Wildcats fans converged on the campus the nights of Saturday, April 2, and Monday, April 4, 2016 to cheer the team on during its impressive run to the NCAA basketball championship.

For exuberant gatherings such as this, emergency plans are a must—including onsite medical staff and a nearby hospital on standby. As the preferred hospital for Villanova athletics, Bryn Mawr Hospital provided a medical team both nights, using staff from both Bryn Mawr and Lankenau Medical Center and partnering with Villanova Emergency Medicine Services, Narberth and Radnor Ambulances, and Delco Emergency Management Services.

On the night Villanova won the championship, they cared for 28 people in the Bryn Mawr Hospital Community Medical Station and approximately a dozen more patients in the stands.

“Our ability to care for medical emergencies on-site meant not only that the patients could be cared for more quickly but also that the Bryn Mawr Hospital Emergency Room wasn’t flooded with all those patients at once,” said Robert Feinberg, Bryn Mawr Hospital Emergency Department physician assistant and Main Line Health director of Emergency Management.