Northwest Rock Medicine
Portland , OR
Who
are we?
In 1995, NW Rock Medicine was started by
Rob Zalunardo in Portland at the Memorial Day Grateful Dead show with a handful
of friends and fellow medics. Since then, we have developed into an organized
group of over 100 volunteers, over 40 of them active. When Rob left to chase a
dream in the culinary arts at the close of 1999, Seth Grant assumed the task of
organizing NW Rock Medicine along with some very dedicated friends.
Based on a similar volunteer organization
in
Our
philosophy?
We do what we do to accomplish two goals:
1) To take care
of the crowds.
2) To take the
burden off of the EMS and hospital system.
We accomplish this through the
application of non-judgmental healthcare at the site, itself. By
operating a first aid station and employing teams into a venue, we can treat
and release many more patrons than traditional methods have allowed. We do
everything from hand out Tylenol/Advil & sunscreen to sewing up deep
lacerations and "talking" someone down from a rough high. This keeps
the ambulance services from being pulled away from where they're needed and the
hospital beds available to the seriously ill and injured in the community.
Why should a 911 ambulance be pulled away
to transport a simple cut when it may well be responding to a loved one's heart
attack? Simply, we make every attempt to treat and release at the event. ? We
also see people that follow the shows and have primary care healthcare needs.
Sometimes, it's the roadies that need to see someone and haven't had the chance
being on the road. We believe that healthcare is not a privilege ... it's a
right.
We coin ourselves as "The NW Music
Lover's HMO" because a lot of people out there don't have adequate
healthcare. What we offer is that basic healthcare that most of these
individuals would not otherwise have. Additionally, we offer the insight of
preventative medicine. Doing a "walk-through" of a venue before a
show and correcting trouble spots makes our jobs much easier and keeps the
crowd a lot safer.
The stats on crowd
safety speak louder than words and we are making a difference.
Where
have we been?
Past shows have run the range from
Grateful Dead and Phish to Metallica to The Big Stink and Warped Tour to
CountryFest. Since the days of only large outdoor venues, we have also picked
up smaller indoor venues, sports events and raves to keep us going through the
off-season. An list of past shows is available to the left.
NW
Rock Medicine
Fall/Winter
Training Day Series
TBA
CPR Recertification,
Toxicology Review &
Rock Medic Course
TBA
Current volunteers will have
priority.
Also
available from NW Rock Medicine:
Street
Toxicology Presentations
Medical
Staffing/Management Consulting
Remote
Event Support
If
interested, just email us!
I will make updates to this page as I get
the information. Thanks for your interest!
Seth Grant
NW Rock Medicine
Interested in volunteering?
Please
email contact@nwrockmedicine.com and
include the following information:
Name
Phone(s)
Mailing
Address
Email
Emergency
Contact Info
Certification
(MD, MSW, RN, EMTP, EMT, CPR/First Aid, student, etc.)
Care to have us at your next event?
Just drop us a line ... we'd love to help.
Consulting services available, please email with
inquiries.
Email: contact@nwrockmedicine.com
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