Event Medical Media Scan – November 2021 Edition

FOREWORD

A mass casualty tragedy unfolded in Houston, Texas last Friday at the Astroworld Festival, with at least 8 deaths and score of injured music festival patrons. While much of it remains under investigation, it is a reminder how a lively entertainment night can turn into a disaster in mere minutes. Our thoughts are with those affected by the tragedy. What is crowd crush? And what could be done for safety?  You will also find an article from the German publisher DW reflecting on the safety of music festivals in general. 

Music festival and drug use are not uncommon. New Zealand allows for legal drug checking, while Ireland is increasing its funding for harm reduction. We have 3 different articles that you might find interesting looking at the issue.

We have also located a number of interesting webinars on COVID that may be of interest to you. What is herd immunity you may ask?

We hope the links will spark some curiosity and engage for more learning opportunities in the future.

Upcoming Webinars – COVID

How to Have Effective Conversations about COVID-19 Vaccines and Pregnancy and Fertility
Date: November 18, 2021
Time: 1230 PST
Host: California Department of Health Care Services
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2363343487846354189

Children’s Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Strategies for Parent and Child Wellbeing
Date: November 23, 2021
Time: 1300 MST
Host: Alberta Health Services
http://community.hmhc.ca/sessions/files/2021-10-21-17-00-53-Nov-23-Covid.pdf

COVID-19 and the Laboratory
Date: November 30, 2021
Time: 1200 MST
Host: Montana State University
https://msuextension.org/wellness/vaccine_outreach/mtexperts.html

Behind the Scenes of the Development of a COVID-19 Vaccine Suitable for Global Access
Date: December 8, 2021
Time: 1100 EST
Host: Technology Networks
https://go.technologynetworks.com/developement-covid19-vaccine

Burnout & Boundaries during Covid
Date: December 13, 2021
Time: 1030 MST
Host: Alberta Health Services
http://community.hmhc.ca/sessions/files/2021-10-21-16-49-59-Dec-13-Burnout-and-Barriers.pdf

Recorded Webinars – COVID

Expanding our understanding of post COVID-19 condition web series: Rehabilitation Care
Host: The World Health Organization
https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2021/10/06/default-calendar/expanding-our-understanding-of-post-covid-19-condition-web-series-rehabilitation-care

Imagining the future: conversations on the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious threats
Host: WHO Information Network for Epidemics
https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2021/10/28/default-calendar/webinar-3-the-global-trends-that-are-shaping-our-world-(2-2)

mass Gathering

[Deutsche Welle] Are music festivals safe?

https://www.dw.com/en/are-music-festivals-safe/a-59742481

[The University of Dublin] Drug use at music festivals: reducing harm and protecting health and well-being

https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/festival-drug-use-reducing-harm-and-protecting-health-and-well-being/

[Radio New Zealand] New govt funding for drug checkers at events after soaring demand

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/454179/new-govt-funding-for-drug-checkers-at-events-after-soaring-demand

[The Guardian UK] Glastonbury: drug traces from on-site urination could harm rare eels

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/28/glastonbury-drug-traces-from-on-site-urination-could-harm-rare-eels

Image Credit

Adobe Stock Images

Event Medical Media Scan – August 2021 Edition

FOREWORD

Canada became the most COVID-19 vaccinated country (relative to the size of the population) on July 27, according to Our World in Data. While COVID may seem to have began its slow retreat into the history books, we are also reminded there are plenty of jurisdictions in the world where COVID cases are rising. 

Mass gatherings from the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics to music festival in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to Euro 2020 to the Calgary Stampede have seen COVID spreads among the attendees. 

We have seen events pivot to hosting on site vaccine clinics to encourage increased vaccination rate. However, we also see events continued to be postponed or cancelled. How should the event industry cope with the ever changing risks of hosting large gatherings in pandemic times?

In this edition, we included a link to New England Journal of Medicine’s COVID treatment simulator – give it a try! You might learn something new for your clinical practice.

COVID Resources

Outbreak.info COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology and genomic data
https://outbreak.info

[NEJM] Covid-19 Rx: Treatment Simulations
https://covid19rx.nejm.org/landing/index.html

COVID Research

[The British Medical Journal] Long covid—mechanisms, risk factors, and management
https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n1648

[The Lancet] Characterizing long COVID in an international cohort: 7 months of symptoms and their impact
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00299-6/fulltext

A blood marker predicts who gets ‘breakthrough’ COVID
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02096-3

Mass Gathering

Belgium Launches “Covid Safe Ticket” Program for Live Events
https://edm.com/industry/belgium-covid-safe-ticket-program

How Safe Is a Big Fest Like Lollapalooza During the Covid Era?
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/lollapalooza-covid-safety-1200549/

CDC study shows three-fourths of people infected in Massachusetts coronavirus outbreak were vaccinated but few required hospitalization
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/30/provincetown-covid-outbreak-vaccinated/

PHOTO CREDIT

Adobe Stock Images

How Disney Shaped My Personal Odyssey

by Adam Lund

The event medical community is special to me.  I’ve been involved in event medical coverage at community events since I was a ‘tween’ with a variety of organizations, in many different roles, from junior first aider to medical director. The network of people I have interacted with who share this passion inspire me to continue to invest a ridiculous amount of time in this work. Just ask my wife, Shana!

Continue reading “How Disney Shaped My Personal Odyssey”

Ironman Medical: Planning a ‘Medical Quadrathlon’

Triathlons are amongst my favourite events from a medical and safety planning perspective. It is a series of events within events. A full Ironman-distance triathlon is one of the biggiesto support, in what can be a 21 or 22 hour ‘pull’ for the medical support team. The teams of multi-disciplinary professionals who come together to support these tremendous athletes are second to none. 

Continue reading “Ironman Medical: Planning a ‘Medical Quadrathlon’”

Odyssey Welcome Blog

Welcome to our little corner of the Internet. We’ve wanted to have a place for quite some time where we can harness, showcase and share the thoughts, knowledge, wisdom, talents, sense of humour and lived-experiences of our many team members and leads all across Canada, and internationally.

As an opening entry in our blog, we thought we’d fill you in on why the name ‘Odyssey’ has some meaning for us.

Continue reading “Odyssey Welcome Blog”