Overview
- Emergency crews declared a mass casualty incident after Berks County 911 began receiving calls around 1:30 p.m. Thursday while crowds gathered to see Union Pacific’s Big Boy locomotive.
- First responders treated more than 100 people on site and at cooling stations, and about 45 were transported to local hospitals for further care.
- Officials said most patients were elderly or children and that one person suffered cardiac arrest but was resuscitated before transport to a hospital.
- Mutual-aid resources from Berks, Lancaster, Chester and Schuylkill counties responded with dozens of ambulances, tents and cooling buses to triage and treat patients under a unified command.
- The event delayed the train’s schedule as crews slowed operations in extreme heat, and authorities say final patient-condition totals are pending as hospitals and agencies consolidate reports, highlighting gaps in heat planning for large public events.