Multiple concertgoers experience ‘heat fatigue’ at Fall Fest

At least three people experienced “heat fatigue” from the hot weather at Fall Fest on Sunday afternoon. Tom Misuraca, associate director for campus programs at Pitt, said they usually have a WaterMonster to provide students free water at outdoor events, but “forgot” to do so at this year’s Fall Fest.

“It was something that fell through the cracks,” Misuraca said. “When we’ve had it there in the past, even on hot days, students haven’t used it. But that was something we probably should have done and we will do it in the future.”

The conditions on Sunday were sunny, and the temperature hit a high of 83 degrees with about 50% humidity in the afternoon.

Misuraca said paramedics informed him that “nobody passed out” and that “heat fatigue” caused three concertgoers to receive medical treatment.

An EMT at the event said she treated three students for dehydration. All three students went back into the concert after the treatment, according to the EMT.

Multiple students reported seeing concertgoers “pass out” and collapse in the crowd. Jack Depra, a first-year physical therapy major, said he was in the front row of the concert when he witnessed someone fall to the ground.

“I was just watching and I felt this girl just fall on my leg, and she kind of passed out it looks like,” Depra said.

Mia Barutta, a sophomore linguistics major, stood against the concert’s barricade for four hours and saw someone experience negative effects from the heat.

“Someone passed out right next to us,” Barutta said. “She had to get carried away. It was really scary.”

Makiyah Carrington, a computer engineering major, said it was “hot, cramped [and] sweaty” standing in the crowd. Carrington added that she saw somebody who “passed out” and received medical attention about two to five minutes after concertgoers began alerting event leaders that somebody needed help.

Misuraca said event organizers reached out to paramedics “as soon as we were told that somebody was feeling bad.”

“They immediately met us, they had security people take the affected person back into a tent and the paramedics attended to them,” Misuraca said. “All of them were fine. They went back out and back into the crowd.”

Maria Nino, a first-year marketing major, said she appreciated the response from event staff.

“I love that they handed out water and ice packs,” Nino said. “That was so considerate of them cause it was so hot out.”

Barutta said she thought event staff did a “really good job,” but felt like the event organizers were “running low on supplies.”

PPC members ran out of water bottles after distributing them for about 10 minutes, eventually resorting to passing out styrofoam cups filled with water. This prompted organizers to leave the event and buy more water for festival attendees, taking about 15 to 20 minutes, according to Misuraca.

“Whatever we had, we handed out,” Misuraca said.

The concert continued with students jumping and dancing while holding ice bags on their necks and chests. Misuraca added that students should “take care of themselves” at outdoor events like Fall Fest.

“We’re doing everything we can to ensure the safety of the students, and it’s incumbent on them to do their part also,” Misuraca said. 

At future outdoor events, Misuraca said organizers will bring a WaterMonster and put “notices” on event advertising encouraging people to bring their own water and be mindful of their health.

“We’re sorry to see that those three [concertgoers] had a problem with heat,” Misuraca said. “We’re sorry that that happened, and we will do everything we can to ensure that everybody is informed properly about water, where it is and to bring their own.”

Additional reporting for this story was contributed by Alex Jurkuta, Delaney Pipon and Sage Rosenfeld.