The Amherst Fire Department had to make 17 runs to area hospitals during a dance concert at the Mullins Center.
AMHERST — The Fire Department transported 19 people attending an electronic dance show at the Mullins Center on the University of Massachusetts campus to area hospitals on Thursday night and early Friday, stressing department resources and requiring mutual aid.
Tiesto's “Club Life College Invasion Tour” drew 5,900 to the Mullins Center, said UMass spokesman Daniel J. Fitzgibbons. Tiesto is a Dutch disc jockey, who claims 4 million "likes" on his Facebook page.
Fire Chief Tim Nelson said most of the calls were alcohol-related, and the number seeking aid was small given the size of the crowd.
All but one of those transported by ambulance were taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.
Fitzgibbons said one person was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield with a possible fractured skull and jaw after jumping from a balcony.
None of those transported was a UMass student, according to Fitzbiggons.
Police took four people into protective custody, two of them UMass students, he said.
Police arrested one person, Bentley University student Ryan Michael Vaneck, of Bellmore, N.Y., who was charged with disorderly conduct, assault and battery on a police officer and possession of marijuana.
Nelson said a total of 31 people sought medical assistance at the concert, where the Fire Department had a triage staff on scene. Seventeen ambulance runs were needed.
The department began routinely placing triage staff at large events like this shortly after Nelson became chief about three years ago.
Nelson said the number of people seeking aid was relatively small, but placed "a severe stresser on our delivery services, on the system as a whole. We’re talking about Cooley Dickinson, talking about other towns to assist us with mutual aid.”
Doctors and nurses working Thursday night at Cooley Dickinson stayed later to accommodate the number of patients needing treatment, said Christina M. Trinchero, hospital spokeswoman.
“Staff prepare and train for surges in the numbers of patients, so they were prepared for last evening’s peak volume,” she said in a statement.
The Fire Department sought aid Belchertown and South Hadley for coverage during the night.
Most of the people transported to the hospital involved alcohol problems, with a few for drugs, the chief said.
The Mullins Center does not sell alcohol, but, Nelson said, concert-goers “'preload' before they come through the door.”
He praised Mullins Center security. “If you present any kind of behavior, they act on it,” he said.
Fitzgibbons said the Mullins Center staff consults with the university when booking shows. “They size these up and determine whether they are appropriate. They work to screen these (events) to make sure it’s something we want to have here,” he said.
Despite the number of ambulance transports, health and safety officials at UMass were satisfied with the response, he said. “With a big concert, you never know what kind of crowd (will come),” he said.