Understanding and Identifying potential risks for young people at outdoor music fesitvals

Researchers: Alison Hutton, Jamie Ranse, Paul Arbon.

The aim of this research was to understand the nature of patient presentations at music festivals around Australia. This study used a minimum data set developed by Ranse and Hutton (2012) which used four main categories of presentation type.

These being illness, injury, environmental factors and mental health. Outdoor music festivals are unique events (Gleder and Robinson, 2009), and in the mass gathering literature are espoused to have a higher incident of patient presentations than other types of mass gathering (Milsten et al, 2003). Often single events are written up, which makes it difficult to generalize to other events, therefore the aim of this research is to discuss characteristics of patient presentations of 25 outdoor music festivals across four Australian states.

The project found that more than two thirds of those who present are women. In addition males were more likely to present with injuries and women were more likely to present with illness related symptons. The environmental data includes the ingestion of drugs and alcohol. This data set showed that patients that presented to onsite care with drug and alcohol related issues had the higher rate of being transferred to hospital.

Staying safe and healthy at schoolies

Researcher: Alison Hutton

Schoolies festivals are events that give young people the opportunity to celebrate the end of their school life. These festivals provide a ‘safe zone’ in designated alcohol‐ free areas for dance and live music. Festivals such as the Adelaide Schoolies Festival are a common phenomenon in today’s society and provide the opportunity to investigate the health protective behaviors of young people who attend mass gatherings. This pilot study provides baseline data about young people’s health safety concerns and improves the preparedness of health professionals at ass gatherings.

Safe partying seminars evaluation

Researcher: Alison Hutton

This project will evaluate the seminars that have been provided for the secondary school students in South Australia. This seminar has been provided by the NGO organization before the schoolies season to encourage students to learn how to stay safe and healthy at the schoolies event. The students are asked to fill out the evaluation form. The result of this evaluation will be utilized to improve the seminar and will also inform young people’s understanding of safe drinking.

Celebration without hospitalization

Researcher: Alison Hutton

Schoolies Festivals are events that give young people the opportunity to celebrate the end of their school life. In Adelaide, young people celebrate Schoolies in a dry zone, however prior to entering this dry zone a substantial amount of alcohol is ingested in caravan parks, surrounding hotels and residences. Data from the 2009 St John Ambulance Australia presentations identified that 14% of young people presented to on–site care last year with an alcohol related condition and/or injury. Of that fourteen percent (14%), fifty percent (50%) of these young people were subsequently transferred and admitted to hospital. The aim of this research is to identify and explore, through the retrospective accounts of 60‐80 young people, the ways that young people prepare to minimize and/or be free from alcohol‐related harm at Schoolies. The knowledge generated will be used to make recommendations about the development of health information strategies that aim to reduce the number of young people requiring hospitalisation due to alcohol related injury at Schoolies.