Do different music festivals result in different emergency medical needs? There’s been a study.

Whenever a large group of humans gathers together, there are going to be mishaps and accidents. If we place thousands of people in a field and then subject them to music for hours or days on end, statistics say that medical emergencies will occur. But which types of festivals create the greatest number of medical problems? And can the genre of music be used to predict the nature and number of such issues?

That was the question posed by researchers in The Netherlands in a study called “Genre of Music Festivals as a Predictor for Medical Utilization Rate.” It looked at the number of patients per thousand festivalgoers by accessing data from a Dutch company that specializes in medical services at mass gatherings. Using statistics collected at 518 events between February 2022 and August 2023 during which 20,289 people required some kind of attention, they determined the following:

• EDM festivals needed more medical help than mainstream music events.
• Drug use emergencies were most prevalent at EDM festivals (74%).
• Drug problems were seen in only 52% at mainstream gigs.
• LSD, shrooms, Ecstasy, and cocaine were the big drugs.
• The rest of the emergencies tended to be physical injuries.

This is helpful stuff. It indicates that if you’re going to hold an EDM event, you need extra preparation and resources to deal with overdoses and the like when compared to, say, a standard rock gig. This is also helpful information for hospitals and emergency rooms. If there’s a festival in the area, then doctors and nurses can be prepared. And when someone having a medical emergency and no medication history is available, this study is helpful in determine what sort of drug intoxications are most probable.

Let’s be careful out there.