At least two people were in the intensive care unit for drug intoxication at California Hospital Medical Center, including one minor. Another minor was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital comatose; the minor had drunk from another attendees water bottle without realizing it had been laced with drugs.
Dr. Philip Fagan Jr., medical director of Good Samaritans emergency department, said the youth was unconscious for eight hours before waking up and recalling what had taken place.
Raves, Fagan said, “should never be held any longer at the Coliseum."
Problems at the Electric Daisy Carnival, which attracted 185,000, follow other recent high-profile incidents at similar events held at other public facilities.
At least 18 drug overdoses tied to Ecstasy were reported at a New Years Eve rave held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena located in the same complex as the Coliseum -- and two men died of suspected drug overdoses during a Memorial Day weekend rave at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
The rave held over the weekend at the Coliseum, which is just south of downtown Los Angeles, was touted by organizers as the largest such party in North America. By the event's conclusion about 120 people required transport by paramedics to local hospitals, according to the county emergency medical services agency. The number does not include patients who went to emergency rooms on their own or were taken by friends.
Cathy Chidester, director of the county emergency medical services agency, said officials treat raves at the Coliseum like a multi-casualty incident, which she said was similar to planning for a disaster like the Chatsworth Metrolink train crash, which killed 25 and left more than 130 others injured.
