Sporting events, concerts, political rallies, religious observances, to name a few, bring in massive crowds of people. From the public health perspective, we know this can, and has, lead to many health problems. The box below was taken from the CDC website to show a few examples of what massive, close crowding of people can lead to.
Other than communicable diseases, safety is a big concern at these events. After experiencing the crowd on Wednesday night, I observed some good strategies implemented, but also thought to myself if it is even possible to control such a large, hyped up, and ,most likely, intoxicated crowd. Of the positive things I saw was the incredibly high number of police monitoring the street and the barricades set up that prevented us from going to close to Wrigley Field (because it was probably already packed with fans). I am assuming these strategies were also implemented Friday morning during the parade and the rally. I think the police do what they can to protect the safety of the attendees, but some things are just uncontrollable. For example, it is difficult to stop crowds of people from walking in the middle of the street, it is difficult to stop people from drinking too much prior to walking into the middle of the street, and it is difficult to stop people from driving home intoxicated once the celebration is over. I unfortunately saw the result of a car accident with one care flipped upside down on my drive home Wednesday night.
According to an article in the Journalist's Resource, other non-communicable disease risks at mass gatherings that researchers found were human stampedes, weather extremes, and high stress levels at sporting events leading to cardiovascular problems. The CDC also discussed the importance of taking into account which country the gathering takes place in and current health trends.
Is it possible to protect people from communicable and non-communicable diseases, or from accidental injury and death when crowds are this large? Or do you think we have taken the necessary measures? Even if stricter rules were set into place do you think a crowd that large would obey?
http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dgmq/feature-stories/mass-gathering-preparedness-global-health-security-victory-world-cup-brazil.html
http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/security-military/health-risks-mass-gatherings
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteGreat post and thinking back to its implications on public health. A positive aspect about the West is that we seem to have the resources in place at large events like this to prevent or treat possible injuries and health issues in large gatherings such as this. Even having popup medical centers in marathons or fundraisers for examples.
However, is this the case in developing countries who may also experience gatherings this large? Is this where the larger concern is as the larger gatherings leads to larger pathogen flows and injuries. For example, in India, Cambodia and Saudi Arabia there are large religious and spiritual gatherings that result in human stampedes leading to many injuries and even deaths due to such large amounts of people. Extensive research has been done on how to combat or strategize on ways to deal with something like this. In Cambodia and Thailand, the Water Festivals lead to massive amount of injuries. David & Roy (2016) have recommended more research and sharing of information is needed to deal with these events and the health risks that come with it (Article Found here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971216000114). This is similar to what Paul Farmer means in disseminating lessons learned as part of implementing successful health systems. I think this needs to be done more!
We are equipped with the resources to do so now more than ever and I think it is time to embrace the cultural traditions that come with these large gatherings but at the same time, think of strategic ways to embrace them effectively!
Hannah, you raise very interesting questions. I do not know if it is entirely possible to control such a large amount of people. The emotions and energy is usually running so high at these events that I would think it unlikely. I do believe we could reduce the number of injuries by having stricter rules in place; it is extremely unlikely we could ever eliminate injuries all together. Many sporting events prevent alcohol from being brought in to games or matches. That is one step in the right direction. People do stupid things when they are intoxicated. More security and stricter guidelines, with everyone knowing the rules, could greatly improve the safety at these events.
ReplyDeleteHannah,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Go Cubs! Secondly, you bring a great health aspect to this event. One example that I can think of where such a large crowd was not able to be controlled was the recent Olympic Games in Rio. Although the CDC and WHO and other large health organizations warned travelers against the risk of Zika, we couldn’t really stop people from gathering at the Olympics. What we could do though was educate people on how to protect themselves (bug spray, etc.). I think a similar approach could be implemented during events like this. Perhaps educating people beforehand what to do during a stampede, putting up numbers for taxis to prevent drunk driving, putting up street barricades and telling people why. Perhaps even displaying this information during the game on the big screen. Way to incorporate public health and sports I love it!
Hannah, I agree with the above commenters that this is a very cool perspective to tie in! Definitely an important public health topic but I wouldn't even know how to categorize the discussion... Community safety? That is probably why it doesn't come up as often as other more obvious public health topics such as health care systems or sanitation. As you guys all mentioned, the cultural relevance and passion brought to these events is certainly difficult to manage, and it would really be a shame to over-regulate in any way that would impinge on the expression of joy and solidarity that I'm sure was felt all through Chicago that day. Another concern that comes to my mind regarding these types of gatherings though is the opportunity for terrorism. My parents were both military and are very very weary of large crowds! Security (in terms of police presence, bomb-sniffing dogs, an attempt to set up some sort of perimeter to be able to prevent weapons being brought in) should be the number one priority. I think this is also an easier target for control than pathogenic threats, which would just be completely impractical to be able to screen for.
ReplyDelete