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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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Spontaneous and Unplanned Mass Gathering Events: A Scoping Review of Health Considerations for Riots, Civil Unrest, and Protest[1]

Ranse J, Gray L, Mortelmans L, et al; Khorram-Manesh A · 2025 · Disaster Med Public Health Prep

Summary

Scoping review (four databases; 10 included papers; large international author group spanning Griffith, Harvard, Gothenburg, BIDMC) of health planning, provision, and lessons from UNPLANNED mass gatherings — riots, civil unrest, protests, and spontaneous large parties. Data were coded against the four surge-capacity domains (staff, stuff, space, systems). Responding staff were predominantly ambulance/prehospital/EMS; additional PPE — ballistic and respiratory protection — was required. Concludes spontaneous events need a risk-based, hazard-specific line in local disaster and MCI plans, interagency collaboration, and better event reporting.

So what

The formal literature review for the event class with no organizer, no permit, and no medical director — the scenario Hawkins' fire-jumpers series documented empirically — and its conclusions convert it into planning doctrine: spontaneous gatherings belong in the municipal hazard catalogue (not the event-permitting pipeline), the responders are EMS by default, and the PPE list differs (ballistic, respiratory). With only 10 papers found, the review also proves the reporting gap it complains about. Companion piece to hawkins-2010-fire and the martinez security-adjacent literature.

Key findings

  • Scoping review of riots, unrest, protests, spontaneous parties - 10 papers only
  • Coded to surge-capacity domains: staff, stuff, space, systems
  • Responders predominantly EMS; ballistic + respiratory PPE required
  • Recommendation: hazard-specific line in municipal disaster/MCI plans, not event permitting
  • Thin literature itself demonstrates the under-reporting of spontaneous events

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