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Mass Gathering Event Medical Preparedness and Response: A Review of Canadian Legislation and Guidelines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2024

Marc-Antoine Pigeon ,
Attila Hertelendy Open the ORCID record for Attila Hertelendy [Opens in a new window] ,
Alexander Hart ,
Adam Lund ,
Jamie Ranse  and
Gregory Ciottone
Marc-Antoine Pigeon*
Affiliation:
BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Boston, MA, USA Département de médecine de famille et médecine d’urgence, Faculté de médecine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
Attila Hertelendy
Affiliation:
BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Boston, MA, USA Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics, College of Business, & Herbert Werheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
Alexander Hart
Affiliation:
BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Boston, MA, USA Department of Emergency Medicine, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA
Adam Lund
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Jamie Ranse
Affiliation:
Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia Department of Emergency Medicine, Gold Coast Health, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Gregory Ciottone
Affiliation:
BIDMC Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Boston, MA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Marc-Antoine Pigeon; Email: marc-antoine.pigeon.med@ssss.gouv.qc.ca.
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Abstract

Introduction:

The mass gathering event (MGE) industry is growing globally, including in countries such as Canada. MGEs have been associated with a greater prevalence of injury and illness when compared with daily life events, despite most participants having few comorbidities. As such, adequate health, safety, and emergency medical planning is required. However, there is no single entity regulating these concerns for MGEs, resulting in the responsibility for health planning lying with event organizers. This study aims to compare the legislative requirements for MGE medical response systems in the 13 provinces and territories of Canada.

Methods:

This study is a cross-sectional descriptive analysis of Canadian legislation. Lists of publicly available legislative requirements were obtained by means of the emergency medical services directors and Health Ministries. Descriptive statistics were performed to compare legislation.

Results:

Of the 13 provinces and territories, 10 responded. For the missing 3, a law library review confirmed the absence of specific legislation. Most (n = 6; 60%) provinces and territories referred to provisions in their Public Health laws. Four confirmed that MGE medical response was a municipal or local concern to be addressed by the event organizers.

Conclusions:

No provinces could list specific legislation guiding safety, health, and medical response for an MGE.

Keywords

mass gatheringmass gathering medicinemajor planned eventlegislationguidelinesmedical response

Information

Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e50
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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