Other Risks To Safety
Driving While Intoxicated
Driving while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs (including prescription medication) can lead to serious injury and death for the driver, passengers and others on or near the vehicle. Care space staff can try to dissuade this behaviour using interventions based on communication, community pressure and the activation of friend networks conducive to promoting safety. However, care spaces are fundamentally consent based, and therefore physical coercion and enforcement of the law is outside their scope. If driving (or the intent to drive) while intoxicated is suspected, security and/or police should be contacted immediately to intervene and resolve the situation to prevent significant harm from occurring.
Environmental Hazards
Care space coordinators should be aware of environmental hazards posed by a particular event’s location, such as drowning, falling, rock fall, fire, flooding, extreme weather and electrocution. Care space staff are often expected to help manage these situations with other event crew through crowd control and crowd care. People under the influence of drugs may also require more care and support than usual, which makes the skills of care space staff especially relevant. Therefore, they should be familiar with an event’s risk management plan, emergency response plan, assembly points and emergency exits in order to best respond to hazards that can sometimes involve large areas and multiple casualties.
Medical Emergencies (Non-overdose)
A variety of medical emergencies can occur at festivals, including in care spaces. Caring for people experiencing these emergencies is the responsibility of the event medic team if one is available on-site, or ambulance paramedics if not (or if the emergency is significant or life-threatening). However, it can be helpful to have an awareness of potential emergencies and what their symptoms are, as they may not be easily noticeable at first. Similarly, they could be co-occurring with other conditions or symptoms of drug use, and it may be difficult to differentiate between them. The best way to achieve this is through a first aid course such as those offered by the NZ Red Cross and Hato Hone St John. This is especially relevant for coordinators who will likely be involved in any escalating medical situations within the care space.
If you suspect that any of the following medical emergencies are occuring, seek immediate medical attention. Put the person in the stable side (recovery) position if they lose consciousness, and do not leave the person alone until emergency services advise that it is safe to do so.
Anaphylaxis (severe allergy)
Asthma attack
Burns
Chest pain
Choking
Diabetes – low blood sugar
Drowning
Head injury
Heart attack
Heavy bleeding
Poisoning
Seizures
Stroke
Hypothermia
Hyperthermia
See the Te Whatu Ora HealthInfo page for updated and clinically reviewed information on how to identify and respond to these emergencies.