Dr. Eric Salk is the Medical Director for SFX Entertainment, Inc, and responsible for supporting safety at music events all over the continent. This is our first post from one of our international collaborators.
Drs. Eric Salk and Andrew Bazos at ADE 2014
Just back from Amsterdam where I had the opportunity to participate in a panel at ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event). The panel was called “‘Alive and Well’ at Live Music Events” and was moderated by my colleague Dr. Andrew Bazos, board member of SFX Entertainment and Chairman of CrowdRx, Inc. This was the 19th year this electronic dance music (EDM) industry conference has been held, but our panel represented the first session devoted to safety and medical care at the live events associated with this type of music. Panel members included experts from EMS, security, a harm reduction organization (Unity), and event production from the Netherlands.
The conference is spread across dozens of unique venues throughout the extremely beautiful and exciting city of Amsterdam. Bicycle is usually the best way to get from one to the other, as well as enjoy the sights, and associated EDM dance parties carry on into the wee hours.
We were able to share with the audience some of the latest data on surveillance of mortality at EDM events from the UBC MGM group to set the stage for a lively discussion of issues, trends, and best practices on either side of ‘the pond’. There was definitely recognition by the industry of the importance of this topic and in making this a regular part of this and other conferences.
Best,
Eric
