The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Disaster Medicine Fellowship within its department of emergency medicine has been awarded a medical research grant from the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) for their innovative disaster preparedness project at the 2025 Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America.

The research team is led by fellowship director and principal investigator Gregory Ciottone, MD, FACEP, a renowned expert in disaster medicine and advocate for trauma first-aid preparedness at mass gatherings. The project aims to standardize trauma response capabilities at one of the country’s most prominent sporting events.

“Mass gatherings like the Boston Marathon require specialized disaster preparedness beyond traditional sports medicine,” Dr. Ciottone noted. “Our research will create a model for integrating disaster medicine into mass gathering medicine protocols that could be adopted globally.”

Disaster Medicine

The BIDMC disaster medicine fellows ran a simulation in 2025 to teach disaster preparedness at the Boston Marathon. Click to enlarge. (Photo: Fadi Issa, MD, JBEM, EMDM)

Emergency medicine has long been at the forefront of disaster medicine, with mass gathering and event medicine a particular prehospital niche.^1,2 Although the medical components of mass gatherings can be run by a variety of organizations, historically, EMS have taken an active leadership role. However, given the variable nature of mass gatherings, post-event medical reporting from events is often inconsistent, making it difficult to assess hazards and vulnerabilities.^1,2 To this end, the National Association of EMS Physicians has issued a position statement to help define the parameters of care and optimize planning and response.² They emphasize the need for having a mass-casualty incident plan and equipment on site.²

This is especially true given the continued threats—and at times, successful attacks— against mass gatherings worldwide, from rallies to concerts to sporting events. More than 10 years ago, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing injured 281 people and killed three.³ Heroic first responders and bystanders applied 27 improvised tourniquets.³ Other high-profile incidents include the 2017 Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival, in which 100 people were wounded or killed, and the more recent New Orleans New Year’s Day car ramming incident in 2025, emphasizing again that mass gatherings across the country are soft targets for terrorist attacks.^4,5

Left to right: Ahmad Alshadad, MBChB; Almas Malik, MD; Jonathan Shecter, DO, MPH; Bharat Raju, MD, MEM; Fadi Issa MD, JBEM, EMDM; Lindsay Davis, DO, MPH; Sophia Görgens, MD; Ayanna Whittington, MBBS, MPH, DMEM; and Anany Prosper, MD, MPH. Click to enlarge. (Photo: Fadi Issa, MD, JBEM, EMDM)