Chapter 58. The Ambulance service at mass gatherings
Casualty estimates
Casualty figures reported at mass gatherings range from 0.11 per thousand to 9.0 per thousand. Weather conditions and other factors cause wide daily variations at similar events.
A mass gathering is defined as a collection of 1000 people or more
Casualty types
• About 20–25% of the work is caused by pre-existing disease (such as diabetes mellitus, bronchitis, epilepsy and ischaemic heart disease)
• 20–30% is due to trauma such as sprains, strains and abrasions, burns and scalds, foreign bodies in the eye and blisters
• Environment-related illnesses such as heatstroke are common
• Their will be occasional collapse due to cardiac arrest, stroke or a drug-related incident
• Minor complaints such as sore throats and non-specific maladies make up the rest.
Planning
Familiarity with the local geography, evacuation routes and specific amendments to baseline plans for a specific event is mandatory. Contingency planning for such events should always include a review of the major incident plan.
The Guide for Safety at Sports Grounds (the green guide) is published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Section 18 covers the provision of medical support to events. This should be read in association with The Event Safety Guide (the purple guide, published by the Health and Safety Executive).
For further information, see Ch. 60 in Emergency Care: A Textbook for Paramedics.
