Chapter 23 - Touring Medicine

Summary

For large entertainment tours composed of 100 to 200 personnel moving from one city (or country) to another every few days over several months’ time, the odds of numerous untoward health events occurring, some very serious, become reasonably high. Beyond rigorous schedules and living/dining in close quarters, understandable reticence to abandon one’s post can occasionally delay timely care. Accordingly, having veteran medical specialists as part of the touring team has been found to be invaluable, not only for pre-emptive minor interventions and continuity of care, but also for immediate, expert handling of serious emergencies. Experienced, well-connected touring medical specialists also provide prospective contingency plans for each destination city and venue. These medical advance plans detail the most-knowledgeable local physicians or facilities for best managing any respective medical condition. They also identify the local “point-persons” to contact for coordination of true emergencies and especially if there is a need for multi-casualty incident management at the venue. They anticipate health risks such as air quality, altitude sickness, endemic disease vectors and other concerning threats at each destination. They also train touring staff in basic life support, bleeding control and emergency equipment readiness. Touring specialists should also be well-integrated into security team functions.