{
  "id": "1993-10-30-university-of-wisconsin-madison-camp-randall-crush",
  "slug": "university-of-wisconsin-madison-camp-randall-crush-1993-10-30",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Wisconsin-Madison",
    "shortName": "UW-Madison",
    "state": "WI",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "enrollment": 41000,
    "alertSystemName": "None (pre-mass-notification era; PA system only)"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "1993-10-30",
    "type": "evacuation",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Students crushed against a field fence after a football game; 69 injured, all survived",
    "headlinePublic": "Students crushed against a field fence after a football game; 69 injured, all survived",
    "summary": "On October 30, 1993, after Wisconsin beat Michigan 13-10 in Camp Randall Stadium, students rushed the field and were trapped against a chain-link fence at the field's edge, crushing [69 people in a bottlenecked stampede](https://www.thebozho.com/camp-randall-stadium-stampede-25-years-later/), including 10 who were rendered unconscious and pulseless. Paramedics from across Dane County responded, and [all 69 injured were treated at area hospitals](https://captimes.com/news/local/revisiting-the-1993-camp-randall-stampede/article_c12cf20d-65be-599c-8528-cb37f5e04ac8.html); no one died. The incident became a landmark case for stadium safety design, leading UW-Madison to add aisles to the student section and remove the field-level fence.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "outcome": "69 people injured, with 10 found unconscious and pulseless; all survived after emergency treatment. Courts found UW-Madison and security contractor Per Mar Security Services liable. Camp Randall was redesigned with aisles in the student section and the field-level chain-link fence was removed. The university and its security contractor faced numerous lawsuits from injured fans.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 69
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Shortly after 3:00 PM CST on October 30, 1993, as the final whistle blew and students surged toward the field",
      "channel": "pa-system",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Wisconsin State Journal and Capital Times retrospectives describing the PA announcements during the crush",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 3:10 to 3:30 PM CST on October 30, 1993, as paramedics from multiple Dane County agencies responded to the mass-casualty incident at the field-level fence",
      "channel": "pa-system",
      "verbatimText": "We have a pulseless non-breather at the north end of the field. This is not a joke.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://big10central.com/school/wisconsin/you-couldnt-breathe-crowd-surge-injures-scores-at-stadium/article_60e48c8e-2405-5ad5-8575-407b5664ee0c.html",
      "sourceDescription": "Contemporaneous wire coverage ('You couldn't breathe:' Crowd surge injures scores at stadium), republished by Big 10 Central",
      "annotations": [
        "Per contemporaneous reporting, this public-address announcement 'seemed to stop everyone cold': dozens of people in Section O began walking back up into the upper stands, relieving pressure at the fence",
        "The Camp Randall crush brought paramedics from throughout Dane County; the University of Wisconsin and Madison General Hospital treated the most seriously injured",
        "Ten of the 69 injured were found pulseless and not breathing when EMS arrived; paramedics performed CPR and resuscitated all 10",
        "The student section at the time had 70 unbroken rows of general-admission seating without a single aisle, meaning the entire student section compressed toward the fence simultaneously"
      ],
      "characterCount": 83
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Late afternoon of October 30, 1993, after the most seriously injured had been transported and the scene was secured",
      "channel": "pa-system",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Capital Times and Wisconsin State Journal accounts of the aftermath and fan dispersal",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "The [1993 Camp Randall Stadium crush](https://www.thebozho.com/camp-randall-stadium-stampede-25-years-later/) is a significant crowd-safety incident in US college athletics, notable because it happened without any structural failure: a fence, a crowd, and a design that left no escape route. On October 30, 1993, Wisconsin defeated Michigan 13-10 in Camp Randall Stadium, the first Badger win over Michigan since 1981. When the final whistle blew, the UW student section surged toward the field. The student section at the time consisted of 70 unbroken rows of general-admission seating without a single aisle, sloping downhill to a chain-link fence at the field perimeter. [Students in the upper rows pushed forward](https://captimes.com/news/local/revisiting-the-1993-camp-randall-stampede/article_c12cf20d-65be-599c-8528-cb37f5e04ac8.html) while those at the bottom were already pinned against the fence; the section compressed from 70 rows into approximately 40 in seconds. Sixty-nine people were crushed or trampled; ten were found pulseless and not breathing. Paramedics from across Dane County converged on Camp Randall and resuscitated all ten cardiac arrests on-site. Seven people remained hospitalized in intensive care that evening with neurological and orthopedic injuries; none of the 69 injured died. In the aftermath, [courts found UW-Madison and security contractor Per Mar Security Services liable](https://wisblawg.law.wisc.edu/2005/07/11/study-of-camp-randall-stampede/) for the crush, and the university redesigned the stadium: aisles were added to the student section and the field-level chain-link fence was removed. The 1993 Camp Randall crush has been cited in stadium crowd-management research and influenced general-admission seating policies at college venues. It remains a frequently cited example of how stadium design, absent any external threat, can contribute to a mass-casualty crowd incident.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Sixty-nine people were injured when UW-Madison students surged toward the field after the final whistle of a 13-10 win over Michigan on October 30, 1993",
    "Ten students were found pulseless and not breathing when EMS arrived; all ten were resuscitated on-site with no fatalities",
    "The student section's design (70 rows of general-admission seating without a single aisle, sloping downhill to a chain-link fence) created the bottleneck",
    "In 1993 UW-Madison had no SMS or digital mass-notification system; PA announcements were the only real-time alert tool available",
    "Courts found UW-Madison and Per Mar Security Services liable; Camp Randall was redesigned with aisles and the field fence was removed"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 5,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "The Camp Randall Stadium stampede, 25 years later - The Bozho",
      "url": "https://www.thebozho.com/camp-randall-stadium-stampede-25-years-later/",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Revisiting the 1993 Camp Randall stampede - Capital Times",
      "url": "https://captimes.com/news/local/revisiting-the-1993-camp-randall-stampede/article_c12cf20d-65be-599c-8528-cb37f5e04ac8.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Looking back: 29 years since the Camp Randall stadium rush - WKOW",
      "url": "https://www.wkow.com/townnews/sport/looking-back-29-years-since-the-camp-randall-stadium-rush/article_5fcdeed0-5718-11ed-a1fe-b71057dd4f3f.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Study of Camp Randall Stampede - University of Wisconsin Law Blog",
      "url": "https://wisblawg.law.wisc.edu/2005/07/11/study-of-camp-randall-stampede/",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Camp Randall crush remembered as frightening call for stadium changes - Wisconsin State Journal",
      "url": "https://madison.com/news/local/remembering-the-1993-camp-randall-stadium-crush/collection_92dc8083-0af6-5226-80c7-5f741eac8cdc.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "'You couldn't breathe:' Crowd surge injures scores at stadium - Big 10 Central (contemporaneous coverage)",
      "url": "https://big10central.com/school/wisconsin/you-couldnt-breathe-crowd-surge-injures-scores-at-stadium/article_60e48c8e-2405-5ad5-8575-407b5664ee0c.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "crowd-crush",
    "field-storming",
    "stadium-safety",
    "mass-casualty",
    "pre-modern-alerting",
    "landmark-case",
    "wisconsin",
    "public-r1",
    "historical",
    "football",
    "stadium-design"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-31",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-06-10",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}