BATON ROUGE — East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services rolled out 20 new bikes last week to help medics reach patients faster during large crowd events like LSU football games.

Getting an ambulance through tens of thousands of fans on LSU's campus can be a real challenge and the new bikes are meant to solve that problem. The specialized EMS bicycle team rides ahead to reach patients first, stabilize them and then allow ambulances and other rescue vehicles to follow.

"The bikes are able to get to the patient really quick and then they're able to start patient care before the ambulance gets there," said EMS officer Brad Harris.

The bikes are not entirely new to East Baton Rouge EMS, but the agency says they have already proven useful at LSU football games this season. The agency handled about 70 calls at the first LSU home game, 60 at the second and 50 at the most recent game.

"So we're able to jump over a curb, go down a staircase to find the patient wherever they're located," Harris said.

Harris also explained the bikes are useful beyond football games. "So our bikes are really a good tool for us to use at large-scale events. So parades, concerts downtown, marathons, 5Ks, things like that," he said.

Medics who use the bikes must go through specialized training, in most cases aligned with the standards of the International Mounted Police Mountain Bike Association.

"They learn how to ride a bike with all the equipment that's on the back. How to ride in tandem? How to follow the rules of the road? And then just, you know, as far as emergency braking, falling, things like that," Harris said.

East Baton Rouge EMS is currently the only medical emergency provider using these bikes in the capital city area.