Injury occurrences at a mass gathering event

Abstract

Objective: This study identifies injuries that arise at a public event in an environment where multiple industries, service providers and patrons are present simultaneously. Method: A prospective survey method was used to collect data relating to injuries occurring at the event. The event was the Royal Adelaide Show, a 9-day agricultural and horticultural show hosted in a capital city in Australia during 2002. All patients who presented to St John Volunteers for treatment were the population for this study with the sample population being people who sustained an injury at the event. Results: Crowd attendance over the nine days was 622,234. A total of 1028 patients presented for treatment with 265 (26%) being the result of injury. It was observed that minor wounds were the most common injury treated (18%), followed closely by lacerations (17%). The majority of injuries occurring at the event were minor in nature. There were 42 persons injured while working at the event. Of these, 9 (21%) required transfer to hospital by ambulance. Conclusions: At the event studied, there were a number of injuries occurring that required treatment/management. On average, there was one worker transported to hospital by ambulance each day of the event. There may be a role for more formalised injury surveillance at mass gathering events to assess and monitor injury trends to both patrons and workers in this dynamic setting.