More than 900 Country Thunder support staff keeping festival safe

The heat wave blanketing most of the province isn’t stopping this party.

The Country Thunder Music Festival is underway, with all regular safety precautions in line.

Belinda Mitchell is the health and safety manager for the festival.

She said safety starts with you.

“We’re actually reaching out to people to keep them safe,” she said. “Some of the things we would like to see are patrons ensuring they have adequate hydration like water and ice to keep them cool. Make sure that they’re eating properly. If they’re going to be out in the sun to wear some type of a hat like a cowboy hat to keep the sun directly off your face. You want to make sure that you’re wearing sunblock and protecting your skin.”

She’s with the TEAM Response Community Services Corporation. It has been providing the medical and fire teams for years.

Mitchell said knowing the signs of a heat emergency is crucial.

“Some of the signs or symptoms are feeling thirsty,” she explained. “Your body will start to sweat because its trying to cool itself off. You want to start drinking some water. Then if you find you’re getting cramping, you’re not drinking enough water. You may get lightheaded or even faint or go unresponsive. Make sure you know how to summon help.”

Getting help is easy when there are a total of over 900 support staff on site from fire, medical, police, security and ambulance crews.

“People can call our dispatch number here at the site,” she said. “Also the social media app people have to download for their ticket. You can go through that app which is monitored as well. You can send us out a text message and we can get a team to you. Or just stop one of us that are out there from fire, medical, police or security and say, ‘Hey, I need help,’ and we’ll get you what you need.”

Teams can be found roaming the grounds. There are also constables on Main Street at all times.

The medical centre located by the information booth is also equipped with staff and medical supplies 24 hours a day throughout the entire festival.

Crews also drive around with portable water stations and ice trucks for people to refill water bottles or buy ice.

“They’re constantly driving around,” Michell said. “They have bull horns so you’ll hear them before you see them.”

TEAM Response also has some new additional supports.

“As you know our weather can be unpredictable here with high heat sometimes even heavy rain,” she said. “So we have a meteorologist on-site. We also have the Sask. public safety unit on site to set up the full incident command unit. Should we have to initiate our plan we can exercise it with the appropriate trained bodies.”

There’s even a new vendor offering some relief.

“We do have a new vendor in this year called Thrive,” she said. “Thrive is IV therapy where if you’re feeling down, sluggish or dehydrated you can go see the naturopaths over there and they can hook you up with a pick me up. You’ll find them down in front of the information booth on Main Street.”

Mitchell wants everyone to know the medical centre, equipped with 11 beds, is a safe space for everyone.

The Country Thunder Music Festival has a medical bed located in Craven. (Nicole Garns/980 CJME)

“If you need a safe place where you just want to get some sleep come on down to the medical area,” she said.

Mitchell is not only concerned about how heat affects humans.

“Keep in mind with the high heat we can also run into fire hazards,” she said. “So we don’t want to see open flames or fireworks on site. We will be patrolling for that.”

Her main goal is for everyone to have a safe weekend.

“I want everybody to have a good time, stay cool, keep your hats on, get your sunblock on and we’ll see you at the finish line,” Mitchell said.