Mass Gathering Medicine is a field of medicine that explores the health effects/risks of mass gatherings and the strategies that contribute positively to effective health services delivery during these events. The reason for the development of the field of medicine gives the fact that mass gatherings generate a higher incidence of injury and illness, may be the subject to a catastrophic accident or attack with large numbers of injured or dead persons.
Mass Gathering Medicine is viewed as a niche field of prehospital care in emergency medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Among factors influencing on the demand for the health care at mass gatherings are:
Key purposes of Mass Gathering Medical Services at an event are:
The Department of Global Alert and Response of the World Health Organization supports Member States hosting mass gatherings .
Mass gathering medicine support requires planning in advance.
Medical journal The Lancet held a conference on Mass Gathering Medicine in October 2010 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia .
In 2015, This Is Life with Lisa Ling filmed an episode featuring mass-gathering medicine with event medical specialists Dr. Andrew Bazos and Connor Fitzpatrick of CrowdRx, Inc.
The inaugural Mass Gathering Medicine Summit was held in New York City on April 21-22, 2016. The second annual Mass Gathering Medical Summit will be held in Las Vegas on February 10-11, 2017