The fair and festival circuit has started for select regions of the United States. It happens about this time every year in the southeast and west (Late January early February). Fairs, festivals and carnivals can range from small church festivals to large state fairs. Regardless of the size, there are some things to consider concerning the development and management of safety policies and procedures. Without effective programming and attention detail, accidents and incidents can and will occur to unsuspecting patrons. Below is an example of an actual scenario that occurred as a result of poor event planning.
A rodeo and fair was held at an event complex in a southeastern suburb of a major city. The fair authority for the location had contracted for 34 amusement rides and device with a regional carnival operator. The fair was being held in conjunction with a widely publicized rodeo event. This was the second year that the rodeo and fair had been held in conjunction.
Approximately a half mile away and young girl was riding on a spinning flat ride (an amusement ride). While the ride was cycling the young girl collapsed; the ride cycle was about a third complete. Her friend that was riding with her started to scream at the operator. The operator did not initially hear her. It took 2 additional rotations to gain the operators attention. The ride cycle was coming to a stop. The operator proceeded to release passengers systematically waiting to the end to address the needs of the distressed passenger. The operator whistled at an operator at another ride to assist and failed to yield a result because the attendant could not hear over the music. The flat ride operator eventually left his ride searching for a manger or police officer patrolling the midway to assist. The operator located and explained to a police officer the situation. A 911 call was placed approximately 5-6 minutes after the initial incident.
EMS was on property at the front entrance to the rodeo. EMS received the call and was responding. At the time of the call the rodeo had ended. Approximately 8,000 people were exiting the front entrance of the rodeo. The main thoroughfare to the fair location was now obstructed. The EMS personnel stayed in the ambulance trying to navigate through the crowd. Several sheriff officers were within walking distance of the situation as well. The ride time from the front entrance of the rodeo to the spinning flat ride was approximately 8 minutes. The elapsed time since the call was initiated was now close to 13-14 minutes. The young lady was dead on scene. It was noted that an AED under 4 minutes would have saved this child’s life. The ambulance was approximately 2,640 feet away.
As event planners and producers how could we have prevented this from happening? Below are some things to consider when planning for an event such as this. If you do not have the answers to this questions please seek out someone that can help develop solid plans in order to manage situations such as this.
Problem statements:
• What should the ride attendant have done?
• What did the carnival operator fail to do?
• Was there adequate communication?
• Where should have EMS been? Did they have enough on hand?
• What should the police have done?
• What should have the facility done?
• What is an appropriate response time?
• Should there have been an established route for EMS and police?
• What kind of crowd management/control practice should have been in place? Who should have developed the procedures and who should have implemented them?
• Do you have to notify anyone concerning the death? Who? How long do you have?
• Should you do anything for the family?
The ride attendant should have immediately addressed the distressed rider. Had the attendant been trained properly, he would have realized that time was of the essence, and that the little girl should be his top priority, not the other passengers. The carnival operated failed to have proper communication methods(radio, emergency siren, etc) The EMS should have been located throughout the park in quadrants, so that there would be at least one EMS personnel close to everything. Their location at the front of the park(especially when they knew large crowds would be exiting) was a horrible plan, they should have been responsible for emergencies INSIDE the park.
ReplyDeleteThe police should have tried to manage the crowd so that the EMS could have a clear path to get the ambulance through to the girl. The facility should have had an emergency evacuation plan. This could have been used in reverse for EMS to get into the park. The appropriate response time should have been no more than 3-4 minutes since the EMS was on site. If they couldn't get through the crowd in the ambulance, EMS should have ran to the victim on foot. There absolutely should have been an established rout for EMS and police and this route should have been blocked off to prepare for emergencies. The venue, along with the fair coordinator(s) should have developed a better exit route that was more organized, police and security should have been directing people to these routes, helping manage the crowd.
The police must be notified first, they will determine whether or not the death was a homicide, if not, they can further complete the investigation as to what went wrong with the ride. OSHA should also be contacted, along with the insurance company, if they are not with the child, her legal guardians should be notified. After the death occurs, 8 hours are allowed before all of these people must be contacted. The family should receive a phone call, card, or a representative should attend the child's funeral to offer condolences. However, if you are asked to leave, you must do so out of respect to the family. If you are responsible for their child's death, chances are they want nothing to do with you. A PR representative for the carnival should also be available to answer the inevitable questions from the media. Accidents are not preventable, but you can prepare for the proper ways to handle them to lessen the damage.
When planning any event the first thing we have always been taught is to do your research. This was not the first time this fair was held in conjunction with the rodeo, so the planner should have made sure to look into the history. By doing this the planner would have an idea of what risks might have occurred before, what worked and what didn't work, as well as the size of the crowd that would be expected. The planner should have made sure a proper layout ensuring an effective evacuation route was in place that could reach all areas of the event within minutes. You should also do your research on the regional carnival operator to see what risk factors they have faced and if they were dealt with appropriately or not. When doing research you should find out what type of staff is hired for the event. What type of training is provided? Do they run background checks? What type of insurance do they have? Do they have all of their certifications? How often are the rides inspected? All of these important questions should be answered before choosing an operator for your event. This alone can prevent several risks from taking place and if they did this research, then you would know that the operating staff is trained and supplied adequately to react appropriately.
ReplyDeleteIn this case there should have been a proper layout of the fair to include security and EMS and multiple ingress and egress routes. The layout should have been sectored into at least 4 quadrants with emergency ingress and egress routes in place for emergencies only. The facility should have first aid booths with AED's set up in at least 2 of those quadrants diagonally across from one another. The facility should always have more than one exit so that the entire crowd isn't leaving out the same area which can cause even more problems. You should have at least 1 EMS per every 1000 patrons, adding or subtracting depending on the circumstances. In this situation there should have been at least 2 EMS per quadrant, with no less than 8 EMS on scene.
When the incident took place the operator should have been paying attention to take notice of the distressed patron immediately. I have also seen rides that have a stop button on the side that the patron can push in the case of an emergency to prompt the operator to stop the ride. The operator should have been supplied with adequate tools for communication, such as a radio or cell phone with direct communication to the emergency crew on hand. Once the operator seen the distressed patron, they should have stopped the ride and attended to her immediately while radioing or calling for help.
The EMS should have never been stationed outside the front of the park, but rather inside the park in an appropriate evacuation area so that the crowd would not have prevented them from responding on time. Once the operator radioed for help the EMS could have grabbed the AED from the first aid and responded within minutes to save this young ladies life.
The police and security should have helped create a path so that EMS could respond appropriately. The EMS could have also gone on foot instead of riding through the crowd to get to the scene. All of this could have been prevented if the proper layout, communication tools and training were in place.
The scene should be cordoned off so that proper investigation can take place. Security should be in place to secure the area. OSHA should be contacted within 8 hours, as well as the insurance company and or claims representative. A PR staff member should assist the family ensuring flowers and personal regrets have been sent and a company representative should attend the funeral.
The attendant should have stopped the ride as soon as he heard the little girl scream rather than let the ride continue in its entirety. The operator failed to appropriately communicate with any other operators or the managers; there was no proper communication. Whistling to grab the attention of a fellow employee or supervisor in a situation such as this is not adequate communication. The EMS should have been staggered around the park so that a certain amount of park would be covered by EMS. Seeing that the only EMS on hand was based at the front of the park (where there was traffic coming in and out) it wasn’t enough for the park. The police should have cleared a pathway for the ambulance so that the crowd would have made room and also so it would’ve been so crowded around the scene. The facility could’ve provided better routes for the police and fellow carnival-goers. Also, they could have contained the crowd around the incident better. An appropriate response time is the time it should take for an EMS to get on the scene and have time for necessary procedures such as CPR. There should’ve been an established route for the EMS and police so they can have appropriate response time. They should have pinpointed sections to start sectoring people in order to reduce the frenzy and also clear a pathway for the emergency personnel. The facility should’ve developed them so the operators can begin to implement them and the police can do their jobs. You have to notify the police as well as OSHA, and the legal guardians of the child; you have hours before you must begin contacting further. You should send flowers and a card to send your condolences and if allowed you should attend the funeral to express continued apologizes.
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