[caption id="attachment_6865" align="aligncenter" width="421"]
General atmosphere at 2015 VELD Music Festival at Downsview Park on August 1, 2015 in Toronto, Canada.
Torstar News Service file[/caption]
A Toronto councillor is calling for electronic music events to step up safety for partiers.
Councillor Paula Fletcher will be asking the city’s Community Development and Recreation Committee next week to require that electronic music festivals have city paramedics on scene with the cost covered by promoters.
She hopes the requirement will prevent deaths like the suspected overdose of a woman during a December concert at Rebel nightclub.
“It’s such a tragic event,” she said. “One death is too many.”
It’s not “reasonable” to shut down such festivals, she said. But, “there should be very strong protocols in dealing with any emergency situations.”
Ink Entertainment, the owner of Rebel nightclub, wrote in an emailed statement they pay a private EMS company to be onsite during events.
“All of our venues have a zero tolerance drug policy and also subjects every patron entering the venue to a full search,” a spokesperson added.
But, even if private paramedics are on site, they need to wait for city first responders to arrive and transport people to the emergency room, which can cost precious seconds in an overdose situation, Fletcher said.
http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2017/01/11/stricter-safety-measures-demanded-at-edm-events-in-toronto.html
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