Mass gathering medicine explained

Mass gathering medicine, also known as event medicine, crowd medicine or mass gathering health,^[1] 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.^{[2] [3] [4]} 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 a catastrophic accident or attack with large numbers of injured or dead persons.^{[5] [6]}

Mass Gathering Medicine is viewed as a niche field of prehospital care in emergency medicine at the University of British Columbia.^[7]

Among factors influencing on the demand for the health care at mass gatherings are:^[8]

• 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^[9]

Key purposes of Mass Gathering Medical Services at an event are:^[10]

• rapid access to the injured or ill patients,
• effective stabilizing and transporting injured or ill patients,
• on-site care for minor injuries and illnesses.

The Department of Global Alert and Response of the World Health Organization supports Member States hosting mass gatherings.^[11] As the acknowledgement of growth in the area of Mass Gathering Medicine, there is a need for consistency in the research and evaluation of mass gathering events.^[12] This is important because mass gatherings may impact on health services and having a collective understanding of the impact of mass gatherings on health services may mitigate any poor outcomes for patients.^[13]

Mass gathering medicine support requires planning in advance.^[14]

Medical journal The Lancet held a conference on Mass Gathering Medicine in October 2010 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.^[15]

In 2015, This Is Life with Lisa Ling filmed an episode featuring mass-gathering medicine with event medical specialists Dr. Andrew Bazos and Connor Fitzpatrick of CrowdRx, Inc.^[16]

The inaugural Mass Gathering Medicine Summit was held in New York City on April 21–22, 2016.^[17] The fourth annual Mass Gathering Medical Summit was held in Las Vegas on March 15–16, 2019.

Notes and References

1. 10.1017/S1049023X14001216 . 25400164 . Mass-gathering Health Research Foundational Theory: Part 1 - Population Models for Mass Gatherings . Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 29 . 6 . 648–654 . 2014 . Lund . A. . Turris . S. A. . Bowles . R. . Steenkamp . M. . Hutton . A. . Ranse . J. . Arbon . P. . 206310964 .
2. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-04-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100610192641/http://pdm.medicine.wisc.edu/Volume_22/issue_2/arbon.pdf . 2010-06-10 .
3. 10.1017/S1049023X00004507 . 17591185 . Mass-Gathering Medicine: A Review of the Evidence and Future Directions for Research . Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 22 . 2 . 131–135 . 2007 . Arbon . Paul . 2328/10117 . 1092404 . free .
4. Web site: Public Health Preparedness for Mass Gatherings . 2010-11-04 . 2018-02-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180206073502/https://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/massgatherings.html#a0 . dead .
5. 10.1016/S0196-0644(86)81003-4 . 3963544 . Medical care at mass gatherings . Annals of Emergency Medicine . 15 . 5 . 600–601 . 1986 . Franaszek . Jacek .
6. 10.1016/S0196-0644(05)81660-9 . Level of medical care required for mass gatherings: The XV winter olympic games in Calgary, Canada . Annals of Emergency Medicine . 20 . 4 . 385–390 . 1991 . Thompson . James M. . Savoia . Gino . Powell . Gregory . Challis . EB . Law . Patricia . 2003667 .
7. http://mgm.sites.olt.ubc.ca/ Home | (archive) Mass Gathering Medicine Interest Group
8. 10.1017/S1049023X00000388 . Mass-Gathering Medical Care: A Review of the Literature . Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 17 . 3 . 151–162 . 2002 . Milsten . Andrew M. . Maguire . Brian J. . Bissell . Rick A. . Seaman . Kevin G. . 12627919 . 24799640 .
9. Web site: Communicable disease alert and response for mass gatherings. 2010-11-04.
10. 10.1017/S1049023X00037250 . 10166378 . Mass Gathering Medicine: A Review . Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 12 . 1 . 68–72 . 1997 . De Lorenzo . Robert A. .
11. Web site: Mass Gatherings and Public Health. 2007. 2010-11-04.
12. 10.1017/s1049023x12001288 . 23174040 . Minimum Data Set for Mass-Gathering Health Research and Evaluation: A Discussion Paper . Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 27 . 6 . 543–550 . 2012 . Ranse . Jamie . Hutton . Alison . 45404363 . Submitted manuscript .
13. 10.1017/S1049023X16001199 . 27938460 . Health Service Impact from Mass Gatherings: A Systematic Literature Review . Prehospital and Disaster Medicine . 32 . 1 . 71–77 . 2017 . Ranse . Jamie . Hutton . Alison . Keene . Toby . Lenson . Shane . Luther . Matt . Bost . Nerolie . Johnston . Amy N. B. . Crilly . Julia . Cannon . Matt . Jones . Nicole . Hayes . Courtney . Burke . Brandon . 7103371 .
14. http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/massgatherings.html Public Health Preparedness for Mass Gatherings
15. Web site: Global Forum on Mass Gathering Medicine.
16. http://www.crowdrx.org Home - CrowdRx: Event Medical Services
17. http://www.massgatheringmedicine.org eventmedicinesummit