AUSTIN (KXAN) — This weekend will be a busy one on the entertainment and sports fronts in Austin, with the Austin City Limits Music Festival returning for Weekend Two, a University of Texas at Austin home game Saturday and Austin FC’s match against Real Salt Lake Sunday.
With so many events happening across town, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services is working with its partner agencies to prep staffing, equipment and making sure non-event areas still have resources in the event of an emergency.
“With ACL and UT football going on at the same time, we prepare for a wide variety of events that might happen,” said Eric Gordon, a commander with ATCEMS’ special events. “Traumatic events, medical events, we know that not only can things happen that might be specific to the festival, but medical emergencies you never know when are going to happen.”
Gordon said it’s a collaborative effort with ATCEMS’ partners and community stakeholders to help with logistics to ensure “we are all on the same page” and respond collaboratively.
Preparations for these large-scale events don’t happen overnight, he said. Gearing up for ACL, UT football season and other major events begin months in advance.
Gordon added ACL Weekend One went really smoothly, with ATCEMS responders decently busy throughout the weekend. ATCEMS officials noted both heat-related illnesses and some alcohol-related incidents traced back to the festival.
In total, ATCEMS responded to 234 incidents and helped lead 16 transports to the hospital, officials tweeted.