A first aid run team at Summerfest gets a call on their radio about an emergency situation: two boys, one on a bike and another on a skateboard, crashed into each other. Both are bleeding and have bruised their knees and legs.

Two team members rush to each of the injured boys and assess their symptoms, checking their vital signs to ensure their injuries are not life-threatening. Both the injured are conscious, at which point the first aid volunteers bandage the injuries and release them to the Emergency Medical Services for further follow-up care. 

Not to worry. This didn’t really happen.

The First Aid Service Team (FAST) held their final training, FEST Day, for new volunteers about providing first aid relief at events such as Summerfest at the World Festival grounds on May 31. The day was the culmination of many hours of training, as volunteers were presented with mock emergencies that demanded first aid care ranging from minor bleeding and bruises to life-threatening situations such as stroke.

“All the injuries that they are seeing during FEST day training have happened,” says volunteer Paula Shows. “There have been electrocutions, heat stroke, people falling off bikes. Also, somebody did fall off the Sky Glider one time and injure his eye.”

The day began with volunteers applying realistic makeup on those playing the part of the injured to represent various health conditions.

Says Erin Mueller, “The makeup makes it more believable. This way the volunteers can approach the situation and administer first aid based on the injury without us having to tell them what it is.”

Sue Olson, who has been a volunteer with the first aid team for nine years, says around 150 to 300 people use first aid services during Summerfest on any given day, most injuries being blisters and bruises. Other emergency situations, Olson says, can arise in the summer. “If someone has high Blood Pressure or stroke, those are conditions that are exacerbated by the heat,” she says.

First time volunteer Andrea Hale says FEST day training allows volunteers to get familiar with the festival grounds.

“FEST day is a good exercise because it lets us learn our way around the fairgrounds, and it's good practice working with different partners in different teams to try and make our efforts as helpful and efficient as possible for the victims,” she says.

Site leader Cassandra McClure agrees, adding that learning radio etiquette is also a major part of the training.

“One of the great things about FEST day is that we give the run teams radios so they know how to use them when they actually need to help the victims,” she explains.

About 220 volunteers from the First Aid Service Team provide first aid at all summer festivals that take place at the Summerfest grounds, and at around 60 other community events. FAST volunteers helped over 5,100 victims last year alone.