Introduction: One of the primary objectives of on-site medical services at mass gathering events is to minimize the impact on the local healthcare infrastructure. Although many case reports attempt to quantify this positive effect by expressing patient encounter volume in terms of ambulance or hospital avoidance metrics, there is no accepted definition for what constitutes an on-site medical visit that results in the prevention of formal community health services. This research aims to develop a working definition for operational use and data collection at events. Methods: A mixed-methods research project was undertaken, utilizing an initial literature review and a set of qualitative interviews based on a questionnaire comprising 25 standardized, distinct clinical vignettes commonly found in the literature for mass gathering events. Interviews were conducted with 10 event medical doctors and 10 emergency doctors who do not do event medicine. These were transcribed and coded using standard qualitative methods, and the themes were explored until saturation was reached. The degree of agreement on hospital avoidance between interviewees and event vs. emergency doctors was recorded for each vignette. Results: Results are in process. Participants generally agreed on the cases’ on-site management, with some positively contributing to and others having no effect on hospital avoidance. Themes emerging from the qualitative interviews relevant to defining what constitutes avoidance included the degree of training (and hence the ability to treat and release), equipment considerations, acuity considerations, and on-site diagnostic capabilities. Conclusion: A working definition of hospital avoidance by on-site medical event care is proposed. This definition can be used to quantify the positive effects of treatment on events in a standardized and reportable manner.
Matthew Brendan Munn (Sun,) studied this question.