A woman in a Ben Roethlisberger jersey approached a triage tent Thursday morning near the ambulance bay at Allegheny General Hospital. Her left cheek was streaked red, representing a gunshot wound from a fictional mass shooting at Acrisure Stadium.
“What am I supposed to do?” the actor asked the cluster of medical professionals assessing her condition. “I’m getting married next week. This is a nightmare.”
A patient care technician whisked her into a blue and white wheelchair and started down a ramp toward Sandusky Street. The wheelchair jammed against the curb, lurching the woman forward. Getting her unstuck took about 10 seconds — precious time in a real emergency.
“It’s why we run these drills,” said Dr. Brent Rau, medical director for the emergency department at Allegheny General Hospital.
The Level 1 trauma center holds mass casualty training exercises once or twice a year, testing staff’s ability to deal with an unexpected flood of trauma patients. The last was in September, simulating the effects of a hazardous chemical spill.
This dry run is particularly timely, coming the month before the 2026 NFL Draft, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to Downtown and the North Shore from April 23 to April 25.
The practice can be especially valuable for newer medical professionals who may not have worked through a mass casualty event before, like the 2022 funeral home shooting in Brighton Heights.
Hospital leaders also use mock mass tragedies to test new technology or ferret out flaws in the response plan.
Thursday’s scenario involved dozens of people being shot, trampled or otherwise injured at Acrisure Stadium. About a third of nonfatal mass shooting injuries are unrelated to the gunfire, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open.
Color-coded injuries
Some 20 volunteer actors participated in the drill, with at least some playing multiple characters.
Every actor’s first stop was the triage tent, where they were given a color-coded bracelet denoting the severity of their simulated injuries: green for mild, yellow for moderate and red for severe. A handful of patients were marked black — dead on arrival.
The fake wounds ranged from grisly gunshot wounds to minor scrapes, all created by specialist make-up artists. One man arrived with a gash in his inner forearm. He later informed hospital staff he was carrying a knife, prompting a call to security.
A QR code on the bracelet allowed doctors and nurses to track patients and their information. Allegheny General Hospital has never used this system before, instead relying on radio and phone communications.
After being triaged, the actors walked or were wheeled inside for further treatment. The drill extended into the emergency department, surgical unit and other parts of the hospital.
“We’re taxing our system today,” said Kathy Sikora, director of emergency services at Allegheny General Hospital. “(The emergency room) is just where it starts, and then it spreads.”
It’s hard to simulate the urgency of a real situation, though. The triage tent stalled or went silent at times, especially early in the drill.
“Talk to them,” Sikora reminded some of the younger staff members. “They’ve just been through a traumatic event.”