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AI-DRAFTED — PHYSICIAN REVIEW IN PROGRESSThe citation for this entry was checked against Crossref and PubMed, but its summary and interpretation were drafted by an AI model from the published abstract and have not yet been individually read by a physician. Read the linked source before relying on this operationally.
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A prospective analysis of patients presenting for medical attention at a large electronic dance music festival[1]

Friedman MS, Plocki A, Likourezos A, Pushkar I, Bazos AN, Fromm C, Friedman BW · 2017 · Prehospital and Disaster Medicine

Summary

Prospective descriptive report of consecutive patients presenting to the medical tent of a large annual electronic dance music festival in New York City: outdoor venue, active mobile bounded crowd, alcohol on sale, entry restricted to 18-plus, cumulative attendance 58,000 over three days. Medical staffing was two emergency physicians, four registered nurses, and 86 EMS providers. Eighty-four patients were enrolled over 2.5 days; six were transported and none died. Ages ranged 17-61 (51% male). Forty-five percent presented with abnormal vital signs and 5% were hyperthermic; 90% of a drug-reporting subgroup described MDMA or other ingestions, and 65% of those were diaphoretic or mydriatic. Commonest interventions were intravenous normal saline (10%), ondansetron (7%), and midazolam (4%). The authors argue that awareness, preparation, and early focused intervention for expected presentations may decrease PPR, transport rate, and mortality at EDM festivals.

So what

A lean on-site model - two EM physicians over a 58,000-attendance festival - held transports to six and deaths to zero, with a treat-in-place toolkit (fluids, antiemetics, benzodiazepines) matched to the MDMA-dominant presentation profile. Read alongside Lund 2015: two independent EDM series, one Canadian and one American, both conclude that anticipatory on-site capability absorbs the predictable toxicological caseload that would otherwise become ambulance transfers. The hyperthermia-plus-MDMA cluster is the sentinel presentation to staff and equip for.

Key findings

  • 58,000 cumulative attendance over 3 days; 84 medical-tent patients in 2.5 days
  • Six transports, zero deaths
  • 45% presented with abnormal vital signs; 5% hyperthermic; MDMA or other ingestions reported by 90% of the drug-reporting subgroup
  • Staffing: 2 emergency physicians, 4 RNs, 86 EMS providers
  • Top interventions: IV normal saline 10%, ondansetron 7%, midazolam 4%

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Domains

Toxicology & Alcohol