In the red zone: How Atlanta Falcons home games impact emergency department and emergency medical services volumes

Abstract

Introduction

Optimizing Emergency Department (ED) resources based on patient volumes is crucial for patient care and hospital operations. Previous literature demonstrated varied effects of large-scale gatherings on Emergency Medical Services (EMS) call volume and ED volume. We assessed the impact of Atlanta Falcons home games on EMS call and trip volume, and ED volume at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Methods

Historical data were obtained between 2014 and 2024, approximately 2 weeks prior to and 2 weeks following completion of each NFL regular season. ED volume was based on patient visits per day at the Grady ED. EMS volume was based on Grady EMS call and trip volumes. Data were evaluated using a mixed-effects time-series Poisson regression with an autoregressive covariance matrix.

Results

A total of 497,726 patient visits, 431,255 EMS calls, and 275,437 EMS trips were analyzed. Average ED volumes slightly decreased for home games, with a rate ratio of 0.98 (95 % CI 0.96–0.99, p = 0.008). No differences were noted in EMS metrics. ED volume, EMS trips, and EMS trips per call increased with increasing game attendance.

Conclusion

Grady saw an approximate 2 % decrease in average ED volume on Atlanta Falcons home game days, which is not a clinically significant difference and would not warrant operational changes. The same can be said for pre-hospital EMS metrics when considering call center and patient transport staffing. Based on our attendance-to-volume correlations, however, one might expect higher than average volumes for especially large events. These data serve to inform staffing decisions within the ED and EMS sectors.