Last week, 35 concertgoers attending the Snoop Dogg, Whiz Khalifa, Too $hort and More tour at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion sought medical attention on site due to the heat, and another 16 were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Turns out, you don’t have to run a 10K to put yourself in danger in the never ending high temperatures the Houston area continues to suffer.
“We often talk about this in terms of people outside exercising or working, but it can happen to someone at an outdoor entertainment venue standing in the crowd,” said Dr. David Persse, Chief Medical Officer for the City of Houston.
“Even just by standing there, you are exerting yourself. In addition, you have all this body heat surrounding you, and all those bodies impair any breeze coming by to cool you off.”
Houston area concert venues are well aware of the equation of super high temperatures combined with close contact audience situations, often with alcohol added into the mix. None of them want the ensuing bad publicity if a number of their attendees end up in the aid tents or are taken off the premises in stretchers on their way to emergency vehicles and hospitals. It’s not a good look.
The Woodlands Pavilion sells water bottles at its concession stands, provides plastic cups to fill with water and allows those in attendance to refill reusable water bottles at any of the venue’s more than 20 refillable water stations.
Less than a week after the Snoop Dogg and Whiz Khalifa concert, the venue’s administrators decided to take an additional step. CEO Jerry MacDonald said bottled water will be discounted for the rest of August through the end of September by a little over a dollar due to a partnership with Live Nation and Aramark Sports + Entertainment. This discount of the original price of $5.15 comes just a week after the Snoop Dogg and Whiz Khalifa concert.
MacDonald has been with the facility for more than 20 years and said he has never seen as many days over 100 degrees.
“We’re trying to make it a little easier, a little cheaper for the customer to buy the bottle of water so we can promote staying hydrated, ” he said.
Persse said there are three categories of heat-related illnesses or injuries: heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat stroke is the most severe and requires emergency medical attention, while heat cramps and heat exhaustion can be treated without assistance from healthcare professionals.
Heat cramps tend to be located in the calf, back or thighs and are managed by getting into air conditioning and drinking a low-sugar sports drink. Heat exhaustion is slightly more serious as it can cause the person to feel weak or nauseous, but it is treated the same way.
According to Persse, there should be no hesitation to call emergency medical personnel when it comes to heat stroke. This illness occurs quickly, and the body’s core temperature can rise rapidly. He urged those attending outdoor events to watch out for friends or family members who may appear disoriented, especially if their skin appears dry – these are two early symptoms that could save their lives if detected.
“What’s tragic about these stories is we hear about somebody who started to act funny, but they’re still clear-minded enough to know that they are in trouble, he said. “They tell whoever they are with that they’re going to cool off, but they never make it to the air conditioning and up collapsing.”
Other outdoor event spaces, such as Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston, allow those attending shows to bring food and beverages as long as neither are in glass containers.
Cissy Segall Davis, the managing director of the Miller Outdoor Theatre, said this provides a more affordable experience for those who don’t want to spend their money on buying multiple bottles of water from the concession stand.
According to Davis, it helps that Miller’s events start no earlier than 7:30 p.m. Many eventgoers sit on the hill where there’s usually a breeze. In fact, one of the best things — other than drinking water — that audience members can do is to just sit down, Persse said. At Miller, those up front sitting in seating underneath the canopy may also feel some drafts from the air conditioning and two large fans on either side of the stage.
“We schedule programming a little bit later so it is cooler,” Davis said. “We haven’t had too many daytime performances in June or July and August, but they will start back up again in September and October as that’s a much more comfortable period.”
James Campbell, Chief of Montgomery County Hospital Emergency Medical Services, said their first priority is to remove patients from the hot environment when arriving on site.
Once medical personnel relocate the person to an air-conditioned area. If the patient is not having a heat stroke, they will likely attempt to cool them off by providing fluids and placing cool rags on their body to decrease the core temperature.
Campbell said if the case seems more dire, EMS officials will lay the patient down on a tarp and gather large amounts of ice to cover the body. This, alongside IV fluids, helps to avoid long-term danger from heat stroke, especially if the patient is unconscious.
Dr. Hilary Fairbrother, an emergency medicine physician with UT Health Houston, said she also looks to rule out any related situation or incident that could have contributed to the patient contracting the heat-related illness or injury.
Such as a concertgoer who has consumed alcohol – a natural dehydrant – without compensating by drinking more water, she said.
Cases of heat-related illness are rising this year amid temperatures consistently exceeding 100 degrees for days on end. Per Montgomery County Hospital District Data, 87 more heat-related incidents were reported between June 1 and August 23 this year than last year.
And there is a 40 percent increase in response calls related to the extreme heat incidents, a trend Campbell said all nearby EMS agencies are seeing.
Fairbrother said Texas regularly leads the nation in the highest volume of heat-related illnesses during warm weather months, alongside Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. Although organizers and operators of local outdoor venues plan for these high temperatures, they are feeling the brunt of this year’s higher heat.
MacDonald said staff at the Pavilion work to catch those who come to wait in line or arrive early to direct them to the Event Center — an air-conditioned, indoor area – where they can cool off either before or during the show.
The center can hold up to 1,000 people and is open to anyone with tickets to the event scheduled that day. MacDonald has claimed this is an adequate capacity and has yet to turn anyone away despite a few of the venue’s largest shows having seen upwards of 20,000 people in attendance.
How some of these outdoor venues are constructed also assists with mitigating reports of heat-related illnesses or injuries.
Francisca Ortega, Marketing Director with Discovery Green, said the park’s grass is a lot cooler than concrete, and the layout of the trees and vegetation provide some heat relief.
“The way Discovery Green is situated creates a little microclimate, combined with the extra add-ons like the air coming off of the lake, makes the heat a little bit less of an issue for us,” she said.
Venues aren’t just modifying their schedules to protect the public; musicians and touring companies are considering rerouting for future shows amid heat concerns.
“Artists and touring people are having difficulty with this too,” MacDonald said. “People are struggling to stay hydrated, and they’re looking at possibly playing up in the Northeast in August and catching us at a different period when it’s cooler.”
He said this would mean more shows scheduled in late September through October or early April and May – despite a big portion of the Pavilion’s busy season being in the middle of the summer.
MacDonald said for now, he hopes the “worst is over” as the remainder of August’s schedule includes smaller shows. The Pavilion’s next biggest show features Jelly Roll, an award-winning multi-genre singer and songwriter, on Sunday, September 27.
If emergencies occur as the weather remains hot and dry, these outdoor venues have medical personnel on their premises.
Fairbrother said medical tents are set up and staffed with physicians and first responders for larger community-organized events like the Houston Marathon. Most of these music and entertainment venues have a team to help handle what they can and determine if the patient needs to be transported to the hospital.
Persse said for those who may opt to continue attending concerts or shows amid the extreme heat, “prehydrating” is key to being proactive to heat-related illness or injury. This means drinking multiple glasses of water the day before the event.
Most people think it may be enough to drink water the morning of an outing, especially if the event is at night. But this is a “drop in the bucket” regarding the overall effect, he said. Especially if the individual is simultaneously consuming or planning to drink natural dehydrant – whether that is coffee in the morning or alcohol that evening, he said.
Those with chronic illness or taking blood pressure medications should be cautious that they are hydrating enough. These pills are diuretics and stimulate kidneys to urinate more, which could complicate fluid intake.
On the other hand, Persse urged people to remember not to overdo it, as overhydrating is just as bad and can lead to Delusional Hyponatremia or water intoxication. This occurs when sodium levels in the body get so low that cells start dysfunctioning, causing heart rhythms and hallucinations and can affect every part of your body.
The best decision to make when attending any outdoor concert, show or other event is to do so with others. Those accompanying each other can assist and let others know if something seems unusual.
“If you’re at one of these events and the person or people you go with tells you that you don’t look so good and suggests getting help, don’t argue with them,” Persse said. “They’re looking out for you.”
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
