LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Community Ambulance has more resources on the road than ever before, just in time for EDC at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“Community Ambulance has been providing medical services for this event since 2016, and once again we’re gearing up for well over 170,000 attendees, including the staff that will be out there,” said Glen Simpson, senior director of Community Ambulance. “We’re building an entire medical infrastructure out there to be able to support this small community that will fill in the speedway over the next several days.”
Since last year’s festival, Simpson says Community Ambulance has added 150 staff to their lineup and more than a dozen trucks to their fleet.
They’ve also changed how they deploy those resources, thanks in part to lessons learned during Formula One and the Super Bowl.
“Typically, we’d put a lot of people on ambulances and send them out there,” said Simpson. “We’ve refined that process, so a lot of our providers will end up going out on shuttles that we’ve chartered.”
This strategy is to help ensure that the event itself is fully staffed, but they also have enough ambulances on hand to respond to other calls throughout the city.
Simpson says last year, thousands of people came through the medical tents at EDC, but only about two dozen had to be transported to hospitals, as most were treated on site.
“So, if you really look at 175,000, 180,000 people, 24 transports – clearly, what we’re doing and the infrastructure that we’re building is working, meaning that we’re not impacting our community resources, we’re not impacting our already very busy hospitals,” said Simpson.
This year, he says the heat is their biggest concern.
“As we walk into a warmer weekend, especially Thursday/Friday, we’re already making adjustments to our plan, and we’re adding some more staff to be able to support the anticipated high temperatures that we’re going to experience,” said Simpson. “Once you’re outside, once you’re on blacktop, that temperature only amplifies.”
Although heat is still a concern this year, it’s less of a problem than in years past. The event used to be held in June during peak summer temperatures but was moved to May for the cooler temperatures. Since the move, there have been no major heat-related incidents.
Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.
