Indianapolis 500: Medical Response for the Largest Single-Day Sporting Event in the World

Webinar recorded on February 29, 2024

Webinar Description

The Indianapolis 500 is the largest single sporting event in the world. It draws people from all over the world with final crowds routinely being over 320k people filling in the 559-acre infield of the racetrack. On the day of the Indy 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield becomes the 2nd largest city in Indiana surrounded by 32 athletes piloting racecars at over 230 mph speeds. It takes a lot of planning and execution to ensure a day like this runs smoothly. On the day of the race, there are over 200 medical personnel, 100 firefighters, 800 members of law enforcement, and 40+ agencies working alongside each other to ensure safety of the athletes, team members and venue guests.

We invite you to look behind the scenes at the medical team’s preparation and response for the Indianapolis 500.

Meet Your Presenter

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Julia Vaizer, MD  |  Indiana University School of Medicine

Dr. Julia Vaizer is an emergency medicine, EMS and motorsports medicine physician at Indiana University in Indianapolis, IN. She graduated University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry in 2011, obtained her medical doctorate degree from the University of Central Florida College of Medicine in 2016, and completed her training in emergency medicine at Detroit Receiving Hospital in 2019. Dr. Vaizer joined Indiana University School of Medicine in 2020 to pursue her passion in motorsports medicine and EMS. She was the first fellow to complete the official fellowship in motorsports medicine and graduated with dual training in EMS and motorsports medicine a year later. Since then, Dr. Vaizer has led the fellowship in the role of the program director training the future generation of motorsports physicians.

After fellowship, she was appointed into the role of the deputy medical director of the INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In November of 2022, Dr. Vaizer became the first female medical director to lead medical response for the INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Dr. Vaizer is also a deputy medical director for Indiana University Health LifeLine, the largest EMS agency in Indiana. She practices emergency medicine at the Methodist Hospital in downtown Indianapolis. In her free time, Dr. Vaizer enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, and spending time with her husband and their two dogs.