World Cup medical chief to keynote EMS World Expo in Orlando

Dr. Eric Ossmann, who led medical planning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup across three countries and more than 600 sites, will headline EMS World Expo 2026 in Orlando. The keynote will focus on how mass-gathering medical strategy from a global event can be applied to everyday EMS operations.

Why it matters: - The World Cup required medical coverage at a scale most EMS systems never see, but the planning methods can translate to smaller events and local response systems. - EMS World Expo is aiming to turn that experience into practical lessons for paramedics, EMTs, medical directors, and event-medicine teams.

What happened: - Dr. Eric Ossmann will keynote EMS World Expo 2026 on Wednesday morning, Sept. 30 at 9:30 a.m. at the Orange County Convention Center West in Orlando. - Ossmann directed medical administration for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. - The tournament included 48 teams, 104 matches, 16 host cities and a medical network spanning more than 600 sites across the United States, Canada and Mexico. - EMS World Expo 2026 runs Sept. 28-Oct. 2 in Orlando and expects more than 7,000 EMS professionals.

The details: - Ossmann is chief medical officer of VIGILINT and an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Prisma Health. - His keynote, Beyond the Pitch: Building the EMS Response for FIFA World Cup 2026, will cover planning, logistics and operational strategy for the tournament’s medical coverage. - The session will focus on how the operation was built to deliver rapid, reliable patient care across all 104 matches. - EMS World Expo says the event will include more than 200 continuing education opportunities across nine learning tracks and more than 300 exhibiting companies. - The program also includes the NAEMT Annual Meeting. - Registration is available here. - CE information is available here.

Between the lines: - Mass-gathering medicine sits at the center of both mega-events and local public safety work. - The World Cup example gives EMS leaders a high-pressure case study in resource allocation, ambulance deployment, crew positioning, training and staging. - HMP Global is using the keynote to position EMS World Expo as both a training event and a forum for operational strategy. - Josh Hartman, senior vice president for cardiovascular and emergency and mobile medicine at HMP Global, said most EMS professionals will handle event medicine at some point in their careers and can apply lessons from large-scale events to their own communities.

What’s next: - Attendees will hear Ossmann’s keynote during the Sept. 28-Oct. 2 conference in Orlando. - The expo will also feature the ASHER Symposium, specialty preconference workshops, the EMS World Clinical Challenge, and an international scientific symposium and simulation lab. - Other sessions will cover trauma, burn care, pediatric care, tactical emergency casualty care, STEMI response and mental health resilience.

The bottom line: - The keynote is designed to turn a once-in-a-generation World Cup medical operation into practical guidance for everyday EMS care.