Medical Care at Music Festivals

Category: Business

Springtime marks the beginning of the festival season. There's a festival for each goer, from lean-tos and jam bands to luxury yurts and Beyonce. While being outdoors is an element of the fun, it also introduces additional safety issues into the combination. The incorrect combinations of surging temperatures, alcohol, and recreational drugs can turn life-threatening if not addressed promptly. That's why it's essential to understand what to try and where to travel before you get your wristband. Safety Net First and foremost, find your event's station or medic camp. They should have one — the value is included in your ticket price. It would help if you always felt comfortable approaching medical staff for help. The medical staffing company has services at events from races to music festivals. People are young and experimenting. Regardless of the event, the medics work out some hundred patients daily, covering problems from hyperthermia (overheating) and nose bleeds to damaged bones, food allergies, convulsion, and heart attacks. We have two or three board-approved emergency doctors — they're the doctors you discover in a hospital room. "We can do almost everything on site which will be done at an ER, like blood work, suturing, and treating dehydration. Will transport more severe cases to the hospital. Thanks to HIPAA laws, nothing that occurs inside the medical tent will be shared with your parents or the police (unless someone is carrying copious amounts of medicine, suggesting they could be a dealer). There's a significant stigma that you head to the medical tent and your day's over — your parents are visiting be called, you're visiting get kicked out of the festival, you see the jail, "The thing is, if you're over 18, we're not telling anyone." The Usual Culprits Heat-related diseases are the No. 1 issue at festivals. Several factors, like ambient temperatures, physical activity, and certain drugs, can beat the body's heat-regulating mechanisms and cause temperatures to spit above the 98.6-degree safe zone. Symptoms may comprise lightheadedness or dizziness, headaches, and nausea or vomiting. Generally above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, extreme body temperatures can become a medical emergency and need immediate treatment to stop severe damage or death. Dehydration is another big issue that will cause your body to lose its ability to function normally. It's essential to drink enough water, but you ought to also confirm to drink beverages containing electrolytes (e.g., potassium and sodium) to revive your body's balance. Low temperatures after sunset are another issue to arrange. The temperature dropping 10 degrees features a significant impact. Proper festival attire also includes appropriate shoes. Pollak's team sees many foot injuries, like blisters from bopping in flip-flops for 12 hours. Conditions issued by drug and alcohol use are relatively common, and a few will be severe. One of the foremost concerning drugs is MDMA (Molly) or Ecstasy because it can impair the body's ability to manage its actual temperature. Couple that with dancing for hours, and it quickly puts people in great danger of hypoxia and dehydration. Kids take MDMA, and immediately their temperature is 109 degrees. "But as long as you are available, we can treat you. It's the safest place to be. We've ice baths on-site where we dunk patients to bring down their core temperature. We've got large, cold-fluid IVs. If we don't do this, then by the time they get to the hospital, 109 degrees can do permanent damage." Signs To Take Seriously To know after you or an acquaintance needs help, recognize the signs of hyperthermia and possible drug overdose: . Breathing too fast or too slow. . Talking in no time or erratically without making sense. . Sweating so profusely, it's as if you took a shower. . Not sweating in the least when everyone else is sweating. . Excessive fidgeting or on the road, jaw-popping or chewing aggressively Vomiting. . Trouble walking. . Drowsiness or sleeping in an unlikely place. Many of those symptoms may well be nothing. But always err on the side of awareness. We'd rather have 100 patients available who don't have to be seen by us than miss that one patient who does. How To Reduce Drug-Related Risks Some drugs are inherently dangerous and simple to overdose. Others become an issue when mixed with other materials. To confuse things further, you don't always know what implications are literally in an exceeding drug you got from a stranger. There's no safe way to consume drugs, particularly illegal drugs obtained from the black market. The chief director of DanceSafe, a company, promotes harm-reduction strategies within the electronic music community. "That said, many people prefer to take these substances anyway." If you're assail doping up, there are ways to try and do it in a significantly less risky manner. The first step is to check your drugs by employing a kit bought online or visiting groups that do testing at festivals. "Drug names are just branding; they don't mean anything," All of the research within the world won't facilitate you if you don't test it." Consider the recent rush in cocaine laced with the opioid fentanyl, a mixture with deadly results. DanceSafe regularly tests drugs circulating at festivals and issues alerts on Twitter and Facebook. If you intend to require multiple drugs during the festival, do your research on mixing drugs and plan your drug schedule. "Don't make those decisions while intoxicated; roll in the hay reception, "Look for contraindications. Plenty of medicines are safe on their own but incredibly dangerous if mixed." For instance, combining drugs from the depressant class, like Xanax and drink, with disconnecting drugs like ketamine is so dangerous that "a trip to the medical camp is your best outcome. When doping up, especially those you haven't tried before, confirm you've got a devotee. It's always best to begin by taking half the conventional dose. Lastly, if something occurs and you're taken to the doctors, you would possibly not be in a state to tell them about your medical record or the conditions you may have. Please write down your medical history and put it in your pocket. "The medical employees would love you for it." Contact for event medical services in Toronto.