Fainting patients at a summer rock concert in year 2000

Objective: To describe the demographics of emergency medical care at a summer rock concert in Taipei. Materials and Methods: The medical care for a summer Taipei rock concert festival, which was held in an outdoor stadium in Taipei, was coordinated by emergency physicians of a medical center. About 70,000 attendees participated in the concert over two nights, which lasted from 7 to 10 p.m. each night. Four medical care stations were set up. Each station was staffed by one to three emergency physicians, two to six emergency nurses, and three to eight other staff (including non-emergency doctors, medical students, non-emergency nurses, and emergency medical technicians). Each was equipped with facilities for advanced life support. A standardized form was used to collect information, which included demographic data, the patient's identification, the time of arrival, the reason for the patient visit, positive physical findings, tentative diagnoses, the treatment and the disposition. Each chart was recorded by the medical staff and checked by either a physician or a nurse. Results: A total of fifty-five cases visited the medical stations with 40 cases on the first day and 15 on the second day. The ages ranged from 13 to 37 years, with an average of 18.2±5. Forty-seven cases were female and eight were male. Fifty cases (91%) were spectators and five were on-duty staff. From the estimated total of 70,000 people in the stadium over the two-night festival, the medical use rate was roughly 7.9 PPTT (patients per ten thousand attendees). The most common major problem was fainting and this accounted for 34 cases (62%). The next most important type of problem was seven cases of abrasion and/or laceration and/or contusion (13%), followed by six cases of abdominal pain (11%), five cases of headache (9%) and three cases who had other problems (5%). Of the 34 fainting cases, eight cases (24%) experienced consciousness loss and 31 cases were female (91%). Forty-two cases (76%) were classified as requiring advanced life support and 13 cases as requiring basic life support. During the peak hour for medical care, the number of medical personnel required was 1.3 doctors and 1.4 nurses per ten thousand attendees. All cases improved and were discharged after onsite treatment. No case was transferred to the hospital. Conclusion: Rock music concerts are notorious for large unruly crowds and have a reputation for having a high incidence of medical problems. It is estimated that millions of fans participate in rock concerts annually in Taiwan. From this preliminary data, we found that the most common problem was fainting and more than half of these cases required advanced life support care. It is thus absolutely necessary that a well-designed EMS system is present at such concerts to provide such a service.