By Sadie Dittenber
The Tribune
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. — The San Luis Obispo County Emergency Medical Services Agency will declare this year’s St. Fratty’s Day celebration a “mass casualty incident” at the request of the city of SLO in anticipation of an increase in 911 calls and demand for emergency services.
The declaration allows multiple agencies to better prepare for the notorious block party near Cal Poly, which has resulted in serious injuries in the past.
The SLO City Fire Department and SLO Police Department have been at the forefront of planning the mass casualty declaration, city spokesperson Christine Wallace told The Tribune — but the county emergency medical services agency will carry out the request, said county spokesperson Jeanette Trompeter.
The technique has helped emergency medical services manage other large events, including Morro Bay’s Ironman race, according to county emergency medical services director Ryan Rosander.
St. Fratty’s is expected to kick off in the early hours of the morning March 15. Last year, the event drew over 6,000 people to the streets of San Luis Obispo, but the city saw no major injuries or fatalities.
This year, the city is increasing its law enforcement presence and officers will issue citations with no warnings, while Cal Poly is hosting a music festival on campus to hopefully pull students out of the streets — but some have said they’re going to the block party anyway.
County emergency medical services will be ready for anything, according to Rosander.
“While we hope for a calm and uneventful day, we understand that unexpected situations can occur, and if they do, we are ready,” he said.
What does the declaration mean?
To hopefully rein in some of the chaos, the SLO County emergency medical services agency will declare a mass casualty incident before the party even starts, with guidance from SLO Fire and SLO Police, according to Wallace.
It’ll go into effect at 3 a.m. on March 15.
“By declaring an (mass casualty incident) in advance, we enable our EMS system to respond proactively rather than reactively to a potential large-scale incident,” Rosander told The Tribune in an email.
The declaration allows the agency to develop a communications plan for managing the event.
The agency will stage ambulances near campus and increase ambulance staffing and establish a casualty collection point — a location typically used to triage patients before they are transported to the hospital.
And the agency is hoping to prevent overcrowding in facilities by transporting patients evenly among all hospitals, Rosander said.
Declaring the incident in advance also prevents multiple agencies from declaring multiple incidents and potentially causing confusion throughout the day.
The county agency, city and Cal Poly have coordinated with flight emergency services, ambulance services, jails, hospitals, dispatch and the SLO County Office of Emergency Services in preparation for St. Fratty’s, according to Rosander.
The Santa Barbara Emergency Medical Services Agency has also been notified, and is prepared to send ambulances to San Luis Obispo as needed. Additionally, the regional disaster medical health specialist was briefed about the event and potential support that could be required.
That collaborative support is key to the county’s ability to manage events like St. Fratty’s, Rosander added.
“Without the dedication and teamwork of the fire department, ambulance services, hospitals, law enforcement, Cal Poly, dispatch and OES,” he said, “we would not have the essential framework in place to effectively prepare for and respond to patients in need of medical attention.”
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