Bennett, J.F. and Cottrell, D.J. orcid.org/0000-0001-8674-0955 (2024) Glastonbury Festival: Medical Care at the World’s Largest Greenfield Music Festival. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 39 (2). pp. 170-177. ISSN 1049-023X
Abstract
Introduction: Music festivals have become an increasingly popular form of mass-gathering event, drawing an increasing number of attendees across the world each year. While festivals exist to provide guests with an enjoyable experience, there have been instances of serious illness, injury, and in some cases death. Large crowds, prolonged exposure to loud music, and high rates of drug and alcohol consumption can pose a dangerous environment for guests as well as those looking after them.
Methods: A retrospective review of electronic patient records (EPRs) at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival was undertaken. All patients who attended medical services on-site during the festival and immediately after were included. Patient demographics, diagnosis, treatment received, and discharge destination were obtained and analyzed.
Results: A total of 2,828 patients received on-site medical care. The patient presentation rate (PPR) was 13.47 and the transport-to-hospital rate (TTHR) was 0.30 per 1,000 guests. The most common diagnoses were joint injuries, gastrointestinal conditions, and blisters. Only 164 patients (5.48%) were diagnosed as being intoxicated. Overall, 552 patients (19.52%) were prescribed a medication to take away and 268 (9.48%) had a dressing for a minor wound. One patient (0.04%) underwent a general anesthetic and no patients required cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Most patients were discharged back to the festival site (2,563; 90.66%).
Discussion: Minor conditions were responsible for many presentations and most patients only required mild or non-invasive interventions, after which they could be safely discharged back to the festival. Older adults were diagnosed with a different frequency of conditions compared to the overall study population, something not reported previously. Intoxicated patients only accounted for a very small amount of the medical workload.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2024. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Emergency Medical Services; event medicine; mass-gathering event; music festival |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 19 Apr 2024 07:56 |
Last Modified: | 20 May 2024 15:34 |
Published Version: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/prehospita... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/s1049023x24000256 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:211630 |
Download
Filename: glastonbury-festival-medical-care-at-the-worlds-largest-greenfield-music-festival.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0