Concert Casualties Have Wash. Officials Scrutinizing Gorge Response

EPHRATA, Wash., Aug. 22 -- Emergency response to concerts at the Gorge amphitheater, treating patients from the concerts and how to deal with the impact was the topic of a meeting between operators of the facility, Grant County commissioners, and commissioners and staff from Quincy Valley Hospital and Grant County Fire District No. 3 Tuesday.

Fire district and county commissioners held an earlier meeting on the issue, which prompted the follow-up meeting with the venue's operators.

The Live Nation company owns the Gorge venue, and Danny Wilde, who represented the company, said each concert season is a learning process. One of the lessons from the 2013 season came during the Paradiso concert, held June 28 and 29.

It was the second year for Paradiso, and the 2012 concert presented no problems, Wilde said. But emergency response was needed from Fire District No. 3 at the 2013 concert, especially at the venue campground the morning of June 30.

Quincy hospital officials reported that the hospital treated 87 patients during the weekend. All ambulances in Quincy were at the campground on the morning of June 30 for a while, Fire District No. 3 Chief Don Fortier said in an earlier interview, and about a dozen firefighters with basic life support (BLS) training were helping the ambulance crews.

Grant County Commissioner Cindy Carter said 73 patients were treated at the hospital during the Watershed concert the weekend of Aug. 2 through 4.

Wilde said concert promoters don't like emergencies at the venue, and want to work to keep emergency calls to a minimum. He said the contract with AMR, which provides emergency medical services at the venue, gives them discretion over their hours. In answer to a question from Grant County Commissioner Richard Stevens, Wilde said 24-hour coverage isn't scheduled for all concerts.

"It's a live and learn business," Wilde said. "Internally, we've already started to have this conversation," concerning changes needed for next year.

Wilde said he thought the fire district commissioners should've included the venue operators in the earlier conversations. "I didn't know whether to be angry, sad, amused or confused," he said of a letter sent to the county commissioners, which prompted the first meeting.

Wilde said concert organizers are considering making changes for certain concerts; owners have contacted a Florida company that has experience with the kind of medical situations encountered at concerts like Paradiso.

Quincy hospital Chief Financial Officer Dean Taplett said hospital officials add extra staffing on concert weekends. Sometimes they're needed and sometimes they're not, he said. "But there are two or three events a year that max us out," he said.

Many concertgoers don't pay their hospital bills, Taplett said, and the hospital ends up losing money. Wilde argued the promoters try to control what goes on in the concerts and in the campground, but they're not responsible for what concert patrons do off the grounds. Taplett said the hospital, and hospital district patrons, aren't responsible either, but concert patrons wouldn't be in Grant County without the draw of the concert.

"For us, it's perplexing," Taplett said. Sometimes extra staffing isn't needed for some concerts, he said, but there's no way to tell in advance which will be busy for the hospital and which won't.

Wilde said concert promoters talk among themselves during the concert season, evaluating which concerts draw which kinds of crowds. The promoters give local agencies that might be affected a list of concerts and meet regularly with the Grant County Sheriff's Office, he said. Fortier asked if the fire district could get the notifications on upcoming concerts.

Fire District No. 3 Commissioner Keven Gardner said he understands the concerts bring money, business and jobs to Grant County, but sometimes the fire department gets overwhelmed. He said the fire district was asking for resources at the venue to reduce the impact on Quincy Valley emergency services.

Copyright 2013 - Columbia Basin Herald, Moses Lake, Wash.