Half-a-Million Strong: The Emergency Medical Services Response to a Single-Day, Mass-Gathering Event[1]
Summary
Introduction: Emergency medical services (EMS) responses to mass gatherings have been described frequently, but there are few reports describing the response to a single-day gathering of large magnitude. Objective: This report describes the EMS response to the largest single-day, ticketed concert held in North America: the 2003 “Toronto Rocks!” Rolling Stones Concert. Methods: Medical care was provided by paramedics, physicians, and nurses. Care sites included ambulances, medically equipped, all-terrain vehicles, bicycle paramedic units, first-aid tents, and a 124-bed medical facility that included a field hospital and a rehydration unit. Records from the first-aid tents, ambulances, paramedic teams, and rehydration unit were obtained. Data abstracted included patient demographics, chief complaint, time of incident, treatment, and disposition. Results: More than 450,000 people attended the concert and 1,870 sought medical care (42/10,000 attendees). No record was kept for the 665 atten