Background: Millions of Muslims gather annually in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, for pilgrimage (Hajj). Several medical conditions need specialized care when transfer outside the hospital. However, providing healthcare to emergency cases in such unparalleled mass gatherings is challenging. This study aimed to describe medical conditions 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: Out of 274 transferred patients, 36.1% were older adults (>60 years), 55.8% were men, 59.9% were Asians, and 36.4% were Africans. The primary diagnoses were: cardiovascular diseases (26.7%), fractures (16.1%), respiratory diseases (15.3%), gastrointestinal diseases (12.8%), skin infections (10.3%), metabolic disease (4.7%), neurological or psychiatric diseases (4.7%), and urogenital diseases (3.6%). In addition, older adults contributed 50.0% to respiratory diseases, 46.2% to metabolic diseases, 37.1% to gastrointestinal diseases, 34.1% to fractures, 32.9% to cardiovascular diseases, and 30% to 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 Hajj season in 2019. Older adults contributed to more than a third of the transferred patients.

Keywords: Hajj; Mass Gatherings; Healthcare; EMS; Convoy