Background: Millions of Muslims gather annually in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, for pilgrimage (the Hajj). Some medical conditions need specialized care involving transfer outside the hospital. However, providing health care to emergency cases in such unparalleled mass gatherings is challenging. This study aimed to describe the medical conditions of patients transferred by the medical convoy team in well-equipped ambulances to Arafah in Makkah during the Hajj season in 2019. Methods: Patients’ data were extracted via a standardized electronic evaluation form. The treating physicians made the primary diagnoses in the admitting secondary or tertiary healthcare facilities. Results: Of the 274 transferred patients, 36.1% were older adults (>60 years), 55.8% were men, 59.9% were Asian, and 36.4% were African. The primary diagnoses were cardiovascular diseases (26.7%), fractures (16.1%), respiratory diseases (15.3%), gastrointestinal diseases (12.8%), skin infections (10.3%), metabolic diseases (4.7%), neurological or psychiatric diseases (4.7%), and urogenital diseases (3.6%). Older adults comprised 50.0% of those with respiratory diseases, 46.2% of those with metabolic diseases, 37.1% of those with gastrointestinal diseases, 34.1% of those with fractures, 32.9% of those with cardiovascular diseases, and 30% of those with urogenital diseases. Conclusions: Cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, and gastrointestinal diseases, as well as fractures, contributed to most of the transferred medical conditions transported in the medical convoy in Makkah during the 2019 Hajj season. Older adults were more than a third of the transferred patients.

Keywords: Hajj, mass gatherings, healthcare, EMS, convoy.