In 2022, 32-year-old David Reichman died<\/a> from a suspected cardiac arrest after he collapsed just past the finish line. Last year,<\/a> 31-year-old Charles Rogers suffered a cardiac arrest at about Mile 8 and died at Maimonides Medical Center despite lifesaving efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n ECMO is \u201csort of a last-ditch effort for a person in cardiac arrest who does not respond to normal resuscitative measures,\u201d said Dr. Matt Friedman, NYRR Medical Director and Emergency Medicine attending physician at Maimonides.<\/p>\n A team of five people \u2014 led by Dr. Paul Saunders, head of the ECMO program at Maimonides \u2014 insert catheters into the body to pump blood into the machine. The machine removes carbon dioxide, adds oxygen, and sends the re-oxygenated blood back into the body, essentially temporarily replacing the heart and lungs.<\/p>\n The patient would immediately be loaded into a specialized ambulance and rushed to the Intensive Care Unit at Maimonides, Friedman said. The hospital will have another ECMO machine on standby.<\/p>\n Friedman suggested placing ECMO at major races last summer, said NYRR race director Ted Metellus, after learning of a few other races around the world that do the same. Road Runners had an ECMO machine at the finish line of the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon, Friedman said, but it was not used.<\/p>\n Road Runners prepare for medical emergencies, hot weather<\/p>\n It\u2019s not uncommon for runners to suffer from relatively minor health issues during long races, Friedman said, and \u201c99%\u201d of the people who stop in at a medical tent are dealing with muscle cramping or minor injuries like sprains, strains, or abrasions from a fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n Occasionally,\u00a0 there are more serious issues, like asthma attacks, heat stroke and cardiac events. Warmer temperatures<\/a> cause more strain on the body and can increase the risk of serious events like heart attacks, especially in people with pre-existing conditions<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n One in every 50,000 runners at a half or full marathon will suffer a \u201cserious cardiac event,\u201d Friedman said. The recent fatalities at the RBC Brooklyn Half \u2014 which is expected to see 29,000 runners this year \u2014 pushed Road Runners to develop heat emergency protocols with City Hall and the FDNY.<\/p>\n The organization already had a number of emergency measures in place along the length of the course, Metellus said, including ten medical stations and 32 defibrillators. There are also teams of medical professionals on bikes and seven ATV-style vehicles with stretchers, each equipped with AEDs and oxygen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery half mile, we have a unit that is available to respond to a collapsed runner, and they all have AEDs,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cThey would start compressions, they would use the AED, and hopefully that alone is enough to resuscitate the heart and restore the pulse. That\u2019s the ideal scenario, and those runners do very well.\u201d<\/p>\n Runners who don\u2019t respond to defibrillation and compressions would be candidates for ECMO, Friedman said. While some runners \u2014 like Rogers, who died last year \u2014 collapse earlier in the course, data shows that 65% of all serious cardiac events occur in the last one-quarter of the race, Friedman said, which is why the ECMO machine is placed at the finish line.\u00a0<\/p>\n The back of each runner\u2019s bib has an emergency contact number, Metellus said. If a runner collapses, a bystander or fellow racer can call that number to get help.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re on an intersection, you can say, \u2018I\u2019m on Ocean Parkway and Avenue A,\u2019 and there will be resources that will be deployed to you there,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to medical stations, the Brooklyn Half Marathon Course has ten aid stations with water and Gatorade, Metellus said, and one station about halfway through with gel supplements. The course map has exact details on where and when runners will find aid stations.<\/p>\n NYRR is also setting up additional cooling \u201cmisting stations,\u201d especially on the sunny second half of the course on Ocean Parkway.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n New this year are ice stops, he said. At three aid stations on the southern part of the course, there will be kiddie pools and Ziploc bags filled with ice so runners can grab a handful of cubes to store in their hat or shirt to stay cool as they approach the finish line.\u00a0<\/p>\n Runners face \u2018unique\u2019 challenges as weather warms\u00a0<\/p>\n Always hosted in mid-May, the RBC Brooklyn Half is \u201cunique\u201d in that it does not give runners time to acclimate to warmer weather, Metellus said. Participants train in cooler spring temperatures, and the race might be their first hot-weather outing of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re running a very different environment than what they trained for, and that could pose some trouble for heat stroke,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cI do want runners to be aware and\u00a0 be alert and be in tune with their bodies, because running in the hotter weather poses some challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2022, the heat index was around 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and 16 other runners were hospitalized, according to Gothamist<\/a>, eight with serious injuries. Last year, temperatures hovered in the mid-70s with high humidity.<\/p>\n As of May 12, the National Weather Service<\/a> was predicting a high of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit for race day, May 16, with lower temperatures and more moderate humidity predicted for the early morning hours. Runners will start the race in four waves<\/a> between 7-8:30 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n Large signboards along the course will inform runners of weather conditions and caution them to slow down if needed, Metellus said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n![\"ecmo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1204594965.jpg\")
ECMO machines circulate blood outside the body, bypassing the heart and lungs. Photo courtesy of Akiromaru via Getty<\/p>\n![\"brooklyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2025.05.17_EricaPrice_011.jpg\")
Nearly 30,000 runners are expected to take part in the RBC Brooklyn Half Marathon this year. File photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n![\"brooklyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-12-at-5.16.19-PM.jpg\")
A map of the course, with aid stations highlighted. Image courtesy of New York Road Runners<\/p>\n![\"rbc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/05-21-22-BklynHalf-EricaPrice_073-scaled-1.webp.jpeg\")
The marathon poses \u201cunique\u201d weather-related challenges, Metellus said. File photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n
![\"Brooklyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/all-half-marathon-2023-05-26-bk04BCPRINT_WEB.jpg\")
A rainy Brooklyn Half Marathon in 2023. File photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n