JFK E.R. treats hundreds of Coachella fest-goers

Weekend two of Coachella is in full swing. News Channel 3’s Madison Weil spoke with JFK’s emergency room about some of the health conditions festival-goers are facing.

“The festival goers have a number of things working against them that they have to stay ahead of. One is they’re drinking and two is many them are doing ecstasy either in the form of molly or pill form. And when you take ecstasy, unfortunately you forget to drink,” said Dr. Andrew Kassinove, Chairman of Department of Emergency Medicine, JFK Medical.

Some festival-goers say they’re doing their best to be prepped for the hot and windy conditions inside the festival: “I packed a Camelbak so that’s definitely going to help with that…it’s that instant hydration over the shoulder so you don’t have to worry about carrying water bottles around,” said Parker Huseby.

“We bring bandanas to carry on us to put over our noses and mouths to protect from the dust,” said Sam Dammeyer.

But not everyone comes prepared. JFK says hundreds of festival-goers were in need of medical treatment just last weekend alone. Some received treatment on festival grounds and over a hundred were treated at JFK’s E.R.

Dr. Kassinove says he sees a lot of overdoses caused by a new popular and dangerously strong form of ecstasy called “teslas.”

“Typically now it’s stamped with a label…and that tesla label is something people are looking for,” said Kassinove.

Fortunately, no deaths were reported last weekend. Kassinove says JFK works closely with Goldenvoice, increasing staffing ahead of festival season. He says the E.R. sees differing types of cases from Coachella to Stagecoach: “Coachella tends to be a more international crowd…a more drug heavy crowd. You see a lot of more ecstasy in Coachella. Stagecoach tends to be a lot more alcohol driven,” he said.

But for both festivals, allergies and dust are a major issue. “They need to bring their inhalers if they have asthma take their allergy medicine ahead of time,” said Kassinove.

Sunburn, extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion are also frequently seen in his E.R. If you’re heading out to the polo fields, Dr. Kassinove recommends alternating any drink with water or something with electrolytes.

“You really need that…not only your brain but also your body needs to stay hydrated to have a good, healthy and successful Coachella,” said Huseby.