Newswise — Chicago emergency medical experts are preparing for an increase in anticipated substance-abuse cases this weekend due to the Lollapalooza festival. “Ecstasy as well as heroin use are on the rise in the Chicago area, and people coming from out of state will bring their preferred choice of recreational poison,” said Christina Hantsch, MD, FACEP, FACMT, toxicologist at Loyola University Health System. “Hallucinations, fast heart rate and increased blood pressure as well as nausea, seizures and vomiting are the result of drug overdoses, if you are lucky. For the unlucky, there’s death."
Hantsch is the former medical director for Illinois Poison Control. “Summer music concerts are unfortunately also drug festivals for many and Chicago is a national leader in hosting many events,” said Hantsch, who is board certified in Emergency Medicine. “Pitchfork and many concerts have occurred in the past few months, accounting for a steep rise in overdoses. And with 40 more concerts this summer, Chicago is bracing for an even higher increase in drug-related medical emergencies."
Last year’s Lollapalooza recorded 246 ambulance runs and most were for drug-related emergencies. Since May, the start of the summer concert season, 41 drug overdose cases, one resulting in death, have been reported in Chicago.
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