Dennis RomeroAdded: The promoter disputes the term “emergencies,” after the jump. Reporting from Las Vegas.
The Electric Daisy Carnival rave in Las Vegas has seen a high number of medical emergencies — 330 over the first two days, police tell us.
That's more than 100 more than the two-day EDC festival in Los Angeles that culminated in a firestorm over the subsequent ecstasy death of a 15-year-old attendee. (In Vegas, authorities called them “medical calls,” as opposed to L.A.'s “medical emergencies” from raves past).
Strangely, the number of hospital transports, via private ambulance, has been low — 12 for last night and five Friday. There's one more night to go.
A medical worker in the first aid tent told us she had seen many patients last night before we were whisked away by an officer who claimed were obstructing patients' ability to get through in an open-access area where more than a dozen ravers milled about.
EDC's first aid area is not open to journalists.; Credit: Dennis Romero
Last night saw nine mostly drug-related felony arrests and 11 misdemeanor arrests, said Las Vegas Metro Police spokesman Bill Cassell.
He called it “a calm, pretty mellow crowd.”
Cassell says 21 people were ejected from the party, which saw between 82,000 and 85,000 people, according to the promoter's estimates.
Paired with Friday night's estimated 75,000 — for a total of 160,000 or so — EDC Vegas will surely beat last year's L.A. number of 160,000 because there's still one night to go (although it's possible many of the same people are coming all three nights).
Cassell confirmed a City News Service report that two L.A. area men were arrested for allegedly attempting to sell fake all-access wristbands to the party. CNS reports that the duo had access to about $1 million worth of counterfeit wristbands, which were seized.
Read exclusive music reviews of the party here and here.
Added: A promoter's rep contacted us to dispute our use of the term “medical emergencies,” saying what happened in Vegas were “medical calls” (as we describe above). She indicated these would include things such as cuts, bruises and stubbed toes from trips and and falls.
During the fallout from last year's EDC officials said the L.A. fire department's medical responses amounted to more the 226, often drug-related emergencies (and 114 subsequent hospitalizations, interestingly), and they classified all of them as “emergencies.” An LAFD paramedic responded? Emergency. In an effort to get comparable numbers, we're using that term.
While it's certainly possible that some (a lot?) of EDC's medical responses were arguably nonemergencies such as stubbed toes, our best efforts to get medical staffers' clarification were met with the threat of arrest (see above). A medical supervisor in the first-aid tent told us, “We're not answering your questions.” And then he summoned a cop to banish us from an otherwise accessible-to-everyone else area.
So, eh, you can't say we didn't try.
[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]
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