Mass gathering medicine: event factors predicting patient presentation rates[1]
Summary
This study examined which event characteristics predict patient presentation rates at mass gatherings in a southeastern United States university setting. The researchers reviewed emergency medical services records from 79 events spanning October 2009 to August 2011, covering 670 patient presentations among 917,307 attendees. Patient presentation rates were significantly elevated at outdoor venues (rate ratio 3.002, p<0.001), unbounded venues (rate ratio 2.839, p=0.001), locations lacking complimentary water (rate ratio 1.708, p=0.036) and venues without climate control (rate ratio 3.028, p<0.001). A higher heat index was associated with increased rates (rate ratio 1.211 per 10-unit increase, p=0.003). The presence of alcohol did not significantly affect rates. Collegiate football events had the highest patient census, followed by public exhibitions, concerts and non-football athletics. Multivariate analysis confirmed outdoor and unbounded venues, absent free water, lack of climate control, seating percentage and elevated heat index as strong predictors.
So what
These are variables a planner can count or change before the gates open, which makes the paper usable for sizing crews in advance rather than explaining caseload afterwards. Free drinking water and shade or climate control appear here as modifiable factors associated with lower presentation rates, which is a concrete argument to make to a venue operator. The data come from one university's events over roughly two years, so the rate ratios are better used to rank risk factors locally than as transferable multipliers.
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- Publisher (DOI) ↗may be paywalled