Dozens of festival goers hospitalised over the long weekend
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29.01.2019

Dozens of festival goers hospitalised over the long weekend

Source: Yvette De Wit

Many were attending music festivals in Victoria and New South Wales.

While most of us are slowly gettng back into the swing of things after the long weekend, others haven’t been so lucky. Between Friday January 25 and Sunday January 28, dozens of people were hospitalised after attending multiple music festivals across Victoria and New South Wales.

According to The New Daily, 25 people revellers were hospitalised across Sydney festivals. The NSW government dispatched medical crews to the Til I Die, Rolling Loud and Electric Gardens festivals on Saturday and Sunday. More than half of the patients were treated on site by medical teams.

“I believe six of those … had tubes down their throat to assist their breathing,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said to the press on Monday.

Back in Victoria, Guardian Australia has reported that six people were hospitalised for suspected overdoses at Rainbow Serpent. Two men were in a critical condition and two others were in a serious condition.

The bush doof experienced issues from the beginning, with a suspicious fire breaking out on the festival grounds before it started, and a vehicle rolling into the campsite, injuring three people.

The suspected overdoses come at a time when the conversation is growing around pill testing at festivals. While various politicians, festival organisers and medical groups, such as the Australian Medical Association, have come out in favour of pill testing, state leaders have stood their ground in opposition.