Aid station An aid station is a temporary facility ( often a tent , table or general rest area ) established to provide supplies to endurance event participants or medical first aid and provisions during major events , disaster response situations or military operations . Aid stations may be divided into sections where the station serves both medical and non - medical functions . Sporting events . At endurance races like marathons or bicycle racing events , aid stations are established along the race route to provide supplies ( food , water and repair equipment ) to participants . During modern cycle races , aid station functions may be performed by a mobile SAG Wagon ( " " Supplies And Gear " " ) or support vehicle that travels with participants at the rear of the " peloton " . Typically sports drink s and energy gel s are provided as well as water . Depending on the length of the race , food may be available . Often , medical supplies will also be available . The aid station may also serve as a checkpoint to track competitors . During events where the distance between aid stations is predetermined and known by competitors , some trainers advise using aid stations as course markers for pace - setting . At some major annual marathon events , particular aid stations and their operators have become local institutions . The Chicago Marathon , for example , has annual prizes for aid stations and aid station volunteers and some volunteers have managed the same station each year for many years . The event includes very large stations , some with more than 300 volunteers , and event organisers publish an " Aid Station Instruction Book " . Military operations . During combat or training operations , military units may establish aid stations behind front line s to provide medical support to troops in the field . In United States military operations , these are most commonly referred to as Battalion Aid Station s ; in Commonwealth countries , Regimental Aid Post s . The term " Main Aid Station " is also used depending on size and operational context . Aid stations are the smallest units , passing cases on to Field Ambulance s and thence to Casualty clearing station s . During the Napoleonic Wars ( 1803 – 1815 ) , the French established a tiered system of medical support services . Basic aid stations operated by one field medic were established as close to front lines as possible , sometimes within a few hundred meters to allow for the treatment of wounded troops as soon as possible . The more seriously injured were transported further back behind front lines to field hospital s in churches or nearby chateau s . Those who required more extensive treatment were transported again to much larger permanent " receiving " military hospital s in France . Aid stations may also be established during training operations where the deployment of a " full hospital " is not required and the injuries treated are not as severe as those experienced during combat operations . In such situations , aid station medics provide " level one " care and treatment of non - life - threatening injuries or illness . There is generally no provision for treating " serious or life - threatening " problems beyond stabilization for transportation to a larger medical facility . Disaster response . In disaster area s , aid stations may be established to provide triage for injured persons or longer term support for those in need of food or shelter . Aid stations may be established in response to both a natural and man - made disaster events and may remain in place for the duration of the disaster recovery effort or may be replaced by larger or more permanent facilities . William L . Waugh gives the example of an aid station established during the aftermath of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse and later replaced with more substantive triage facilities . In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina , FEMA and the Red Cross established a number of emergency aid stations throughout New Orleans and near evacuation centers . These provided food , water , recovery supplies , medical aid and became a focal point of efforts to find missing persons . A number of privately owned facilities became makeshift aid stations including the bar , " Johnny White ' s " .