EMS EVENT MEDICAL - MASS GATHERING EVENT MEDICAL SPECIALISTS

​

Mass gathering medicine, also known as event medicine, crowd medicine or mass gathering health, is a field of medicine that explores the health effects/risks of mass gatherings and the strategies that contribute positively to effective health services delivery during these events.

​

The reason for the development of the field of medicine gives the fact that mass gatherings generate a higher incidence of injury and illness, may be the subject to excessive use of drugs and alcohol, a catastrophic accident or attack with large numbers of injured or dead persons.

​

Mass Gathering Medicine is viewed as a niche field of prehospital care in emergency medicine across the world.

​

Among factors influencing on the demand for the health care at mass gatherings are:

• the weather,

• duration of the event,

• if the crowd moves,

• containment of the event (fenced/contained or not),

• availability of alcohol/drugs,

• the density of the crowd et al.,

• possibility for spreading of communicable diseases 

 

Key purposes of Mass Gathering Medical Services at an event are:

• rapid access to the injured or ill patients,

• effective stabilising and transporting injured or ill patients,

• on-site care for minor injuries and illnesses

​​

Mass gathering medicine support requires extensive planning in advance.

​

As the acknowledgement of growth in the area of Mass Gathering Medicine in Australia, there is a need for consistency in the research and evaluation of mass gathering events.

 

This is important because mass gatherings may impact on local health services and having a collective understanding of the impact of mass gatherings on local health services may mitigate any poor outcomes for patients.