Crowd Safety and Risk Management

Question: Discuss about background to the issue and love parade stampede? Answer: Introduction Crowd Safety and risk management is one of the most critical issues in todays world. Various concerts and functions all around the world take place and the most important aspect for the event management group of the respective concerts and functions being held are the safety of the crowd and assess the risk management via significant evaluations and analysis. The major motive is to maintain the decorum of the event along with managing the risk and crowd (Brown, 2014). One of the most significant events that has created huge impact on crowd safety and risk management is the Love Parade held in Berlin. In this report we will analyze and conceptualize on the risk management issues of the Love parade held in Berlin and the fatal stampede in 2010 which has led to the permanent closure of Love parade event in Berlin. Background to the Issue Groups frequently assemble at various venues ranging from sports activities to musical concerts often numbering to a few million in various places from sports stadiums to open Air Theater. Extreme crowding results sometimes in unwanted tragedies involving severe injuries and even may result in death and fatalities. A mass craze is sometimes directed at obtaining something highly valuable. One of the most significant examples is the Love parade that first commenced on July 1989 in the streets of Berlin, Germany. The Love parade was actually a popular dance music festival held annually from 1989 to 2003 in the capital city of Berlin, again on 2006 it was held in Berlin and from 2007 to 2010 in Ruhr (Burgan and Mules, 2000). The Love parade was actually started for a political demonstration for international understanding and peace via love for music. On 24th July 2010 the Love parade festival was called off and cancelled permanently by the organizer because the crowd rush led to the de ath of 21 people and more than 500 people being injured. Love parade Stampede The Love parade stampede in the year 2010 led the permanent cancellation of the event. It was reported that the people attending the event reached a mammoth amount of 1.4 million whereas the original expectation was round about 800,000. The police investigation believed that about 400,000 people were present during the event (Carlsen, Getz and Soutar, 2000). The huge stampede led to the death of 21 people and more than 500 approximately were reported severely injured near the tunnel that was overcrowded which led to the festival. It was also reported that about 20 casualties was the result of suffocation caused by the extreme crowd pressure. According to the investigation report the fire service extinguisher and the safety experts previously warned that the entire festival site was not meant for the number of people to attend the festival. It can be easily outlined that despite having several warnings the organizers were the key to the accident that cost many lives of innocent people. Problems Identified After analyzing and evaluating the entire accident that happened at the Love parade on 24th July 2010 in Berlin three significant problems were identified after investigating the entire event site and the incident caused. Problem 1 After analyzing the entire situation of the fatal incident of 2010 love parade the first and the foremost problem that was identified was the event site was overcrowded. It was expected about 800,000 whereas the crowd was around 1.4 million. From here it can be easily identified that the event planner was much more interested in making money rather than being interested in the safety of the people and crowd management. The planner was not provided with the permission for such number of people but ascertaining the money making way has led to the disastrous stampede (Robertson, Junek and Lockstone-Binney, 2014). Another significant example of the fatal stampede was the Hillsborough disaster. It was a human crush at a football match on 15th April 1989 leading to 96 people dead and 766 severely injured. According to reports a football match was played between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool and the major reason for the disaster was the elimination of standing terraces and lack of police control. Problem 2 Another problem that was identified ahead of the Love parade in Berlin was the failures of few event attendants and many were overwhelmed by the huge size of the crowd that the attendants were meant to direct. The same can also be recited about the police. The communication of their records on the day of the festival revealed poor decisions, misunderstandings and helplessness (Crowther, Bostock and Perry, 2015). The police communication was also hampered by the collapsed telephone network. The priority circuit which enables to prevent the network overloads was not prepared in fact it had not even been asked for. The entire cite lacked loudspeakers for instant announcements as there was no enough cable. Problem 3 The report of the prosecutors provided that the security staffs were not informed and overlooked the basic problems of the large scale event and the buck of responsibility was passed eventually to the security plan by the organizers of Love Parade. The security staff as already mentioned was not enough to control the huge crowd and it was also reported that they were not properly trained. The idealistic and immense damage would have hit the organizers of the Ruhr region and the organizers had the event been called off due to potential risks (Drengner, Jahn and Zanger, 2011). Thus, the final permit for the Love parade was sanctioned just before three days of the event and until the final day of the event traffic barriers were removed for accommodation of emergency vehicles. Strategies or Solutions to be considered Definite strategies and solutions are the need of the hour in an event like Love parade. The inefficiencies with the event organizers and the staff have led to the huge disaster (Korstanje, 2009). It is the significant role of the organizers and event managers to assess the risk management while the event. Significant measures must be outline beforehand to avoid the disputes and risk that can create misfortunes during the event. One can only opine that the cash-strapped city and the organizers wanted to host the event but never expected such a turnout of boisterous young people but did not pay enough attention to the safety measures or a backup plan in case of a calamity (HARRIS, 2004). In any case, it is the sole responsibility of the organizers to inform the crowd of the event about the foreseeable dangers and emergency procedures in the event of an emergency. Emergency power backup plans are a must because in the case of complete power and communications failure may lead to panic amongst the crowd. Critical medical needs such as stretchers, oxygen, and an ambulance should always be in a standby mode in case of any urgency. Lots of lives have been lost due to failure to provide immediate emergency support to the victims. Proper metering of the venue with clear pathways, corridors, entrances and exits is necessary with organizers continuously communicating with each other during the event (Korstanje, 2009). The event or function venue should be opened early and delay the closing because it leads to dispersion of the crowd into various places avoiding jamming and overcrowded situations. After the Love parade incident occurred large scale events in Germany can also end up in disastrous misfortune. Thus all basic routes to every festival area are being widened along with installation of more emergency exits with lighting (Getz, 2012). Video Surveillance systems are being installed to have a significant view of the visitors flow. All security personnel have been well trained and increased so that in any kind of emergency situation there are enough security personnel in charge to direct and control the huge crowd. Conclusion To conclude, crowd control and risk management today have become a vital part of any event for the organizers and event management personnel. From the 2010 Berlin Love Parade incident which could have been avoided if real-time communication skills and administrative crowd control were demonstrated (Pernecky, 2015). More and more firms are emphasizing on properly training and honing the skills of event managers to avoid disasters during events. They are now equipped with state of the art communications tools and emergency training procedures to prevent any potential mishap (Reid and Ritchie, 2011). Worldwide, we hear news almost every day of such incidents which leaves us in utter shock and dismay at the number of innocent lives lost or fatally injured due to improper crowd management. We should act now to prevent such tragic incidents in the future. References Brown, S. (2014). Emerging Professionalism in the Event Industry: A Practitioner's Perspective.Event Management, 18(1), pp.15-24. Burgan, B. and Mules, T. (2000). Sampling Frame Issues in Identifying Event-Related Expenditure.Event Management, 6(4), pp.223-230. 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