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Festival Safety Basics: Heat, Hearing, Friends, 911

Facts checked against the sources below on .

Quick answer: Drink water, find the medical tent early, wear earplugs, and stick with a buddy. If a friend is hard to wake, confused, or breathing slowly, call 911. EDC Las Vegas says its medical care is free and that you will not get in trouble for seeking medical help [10].

We built Drop because we love shows. We also want everyone to get home. This is the stuff we tell our own friends. It's safety info, not judgment. Nothing here tells you what to do with your night. It tells you how to look out for each other.

This is general information, not medical advice. For anything serious, get a medical professional.

What do I do about heat and dehydration?

Heat can be a serious festival problem. Know the signs.

Heat exhaustion can look like headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, heavy sweating, and thirst [1]. CDC's occupational health institute (NIOSH) says to take the person to a clinic or emergency room for medical evaluation (at a festival, the medical tent), and call 911 if medical care is unavailable. Stay with them, move them out of the heat, remove unnecessary clothing, cool them with cold compresses, and give frequent sips of cool water [1].

Heat stroke is an emergency. Signs include confusion, slurred speech, passing out, seizures, and hot dry skin or heavy sweating [1]. The advice is to call 911, stay with the person, move them somewhere cool and shaded, and cool them fast with cold wet cloths or water [1].

Muscle cramps in the heat are a warning too. NIOSH says to drink water and have a snack or a sports drink, and to skip salt tablets. Get medical help if cramps don't ease within an hour, or if the person has heart problems or is on a low-sodium diet [1].

Some plain advice: bring a refillable bottle if the festival allows one, find the water stations when you arrive, and take shade breaks. Big festivals often run free water. EDC Las Vegas says it provides free hydration stations marked with droplet icons on its map [10]. Check your festival's own page for what's allowed.

How do I protect my hearing?

Loud music can damage your ears. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) says long or repeated exposure to sound at or above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss, and it lists concerts at roughly 94 to 110 dBA [2].

What helps:

  • Wear earplugs. NIDCD recommends earplugs or other protective devices during loud activities [2].
  • Move away from the speakers when you can. NIDCD's advice is to avoid noise that is too loud, too close, or too long [2].
  • Take breaks in a quieter spot.

Ringing in your ears (tinnitus) after a show is a warning. NIDCD says it may fade, but sometimes it lasts a lifetime [2]. If sounds seem muffled or speech is hard to follow, get your hearing tested [2].

How much sleep do I really need?

CDC says adults 18 to 60 need 7 or more hours a day [3]. Festivals make that hard. Plan for it anyway: pick one night to rest, eat real meals, and don't drive home tired. CDC links enough sleep to fewer vehicle crashes [3]. If you're wiped out, wait, nap, or grab a ride.

Why use a buddy system?

Go in with at least one person. Agree on a meeting spot and a time to check in. Screenshot the festival map. Keep your phone charged and bring a spare battery. If you lose each other, go to the spot you picked, not a random place in the crowd.

Tell your buddy if you start feeling off. And if a friend seems off, say something. The same advice shows up in federal guidance on drinks: look out for friends, and ask them to look out for you [4].

Where is the medical tent, and is it safe to go?

Find it when you arrive, before you need it. Look at the map or ask staff.

At EDC Las Vegas, the official site says medical care is free of charge, no questions asked, and that "you will not get in trouble for seeking medical help" [10]. Policies differ by event, so check your festival's own safety page.

Go if you feel faint, sick, dizzy, or scared. Going early is better than waiting.

How do I spot a spiked drink?

The Office on Women's Health says to watch your drink being poured, open drinks yourself, and not accept drinks from others. If someone offers, go with them to order [4]. Stop drinking if a drink tastes or smells strange, though many drugs have no taste or smell [4].

Signs you may have been drugged include feeling drunk when you haven't had alcohol, or effects much stronger than expected, and memory gaps [4]. If that happens, ask a friend to take you somewhere safe and get medical care. Call 911 or go to an emergency room, and tell staff you think you were drugged [4].

If you can, avoid urinating, bathing, or changing clothes before you go, so evidence can be collected [4]. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673, confidential, any time [4].

What should I know about fentanyl?

Fentanyl is the reason this section exists. Counterfeit pills can look exactly like real ones and may contain fentanyl [7]. You can't tell by looking. DanceSafe, a nonprofit that does harm reduction at music events, says even people who know fentanyl is in a product can't know the amount [7].

Not using is the only way to avoid the risk. If someone does use, know that drug checking has limits. DanceSafe says no fentanyl test strip detects every fentanyl analog, and a negative result doesn't guarantee a sample is free of synthetic opioids [7]. A strip is a helpful tool, not a guarantee.

Colorado law. Colorado's 2019 harm reduction law (SB19-227) says "drug paraphernalia" does not include testing equipment used to identify or analyze the strength, effectiveness, or purity of controlled substances [9][11]. Test strips are a common example of that kind of tool. We're not lawyers, and the law may have changed since 2019, so check current Colorado law if you need to be sure.

What is naloxone and should I carry it?

Naloxone (Narcan) quickly reverses an opioid overdose [6]. CDC says it can restore normal breathing in people who overdosed on opioids, including drugs contaminated with an opioid like fentanyl [5]. If you give it to someone who hasn't taken an opioid, it will not hurt them [5].

It's temporary. Naloxone works for about 30 to 90 minutes, and many opioids last longer, so the overdose can return [6]. That's why you still call 911.

Many pharmacies carry it, and in some states a pharmacist can provide it without a prescription [6]. Local health departments and community programs may offer it free [6]. Ask your pharmacy or local health department.

How do I help a friend who's in trouble?

Signs of an opioid overdose per CDC: tiny pinpoint pupils, falling asleep or passing out, a limp body, slow or shallow breathing, and choking or gurgling sounds [5]. Here's what CDC says to do [5]:

  1. Call 911 right away.
  2. Give naloxone as soon as possible, if you have it. Don't wait for responders.
  3. Try to keep the person awake and breathing.
  4. Lay them on their side to prevent choking.
  5. Stay with them until help arrives.
  6. More than one dose may be needed, especially with fentanyl.

Naloxone only works on opioids. For other emergencies (heat stroke, a spiked drink, a seizure), the answer is the same first step: call 911 and stay with them.

Will I get in trouble for calling 911 in Colorado?

Colorado has a 911 Good Samaritan law (C.R.S. 18-1-711). It protects both the person who reports an overdose (or aids or seeks aid for the person) and the person who had the overdose from arrest and prosecution for certain offenses, including drug possession and use, if you act in good faith, stay at the scene, give your name, and cooperate with responders [8][12]. It only covers specific offenses, and the offense has to arise from the same event [8][12]. The law was widened in 2023 (HB23-1167) [12]. Laws change, so check the current text; this isn't legal advice. In an emergency, the safe move is to call.

When should I just call 911?

Don't wait to be sure. Call for:

  • Someone who can't be woken, or is breathing slowly or not at all [5]
  • Confusion, slurred speech, passing out, or seizure in the heat [1]
  • A suspected drugged drink [4]

Tell the dispatcher where you are. Pick a landmark from the festival map.

One honest line about Drop

Drop is the app we built to find shows near you. It won't keep you safe, your buddy will. See you at the next one.

Sources

All accessed 2026-10-18.

  1. CDC / NIOSH, "Heat-related Illnesses." https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/heat-stress/about/illnesses.html
  2. NIH, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, "Noise-Induced Hearing Loss." https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/noise-induced-hearing-loss
  3. CDC, "About Sleep." https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about/index.html
  4. HHS Office on Women's Health, "Date rape drugs." https://womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/date-rape-drugs
  5. CDC, "How and When to Use Naloxone for an Opioid Overdose" (fact sheet for family and caregivers, April 2024). https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/media/pdfs/2024/04/Naloxone-Fact-Sheet_FamilyandCaregivers_HowandWhen_4_11_2024.pdf
  6. NIDA, "Naloxone DrugFacts." https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/naloxone
  7. DanceSafe, "Fentanyl." https://dancesafe.org/fentanyl/
  8. Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, "Fact Sheet: Colorado 911 Good Samaritan Law" (last updated June 2018). https://cdpsdocs.state.co.us/ccjj/Resources/Leg/Mandates/2012-12_CCJJ-911-Sam-Factsheet_rev2018-06.pdf
  9. Colorado General Assembly, Senate Bill 19-227 (enrolled text). https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019A/bills/2019a_227_enr.pdf
  10. EDC Las Vegas / Insomniac, "Health & Wellness." https://lasvegas.edc.com/guide/health-wellness/
  11. Colorado General Assembly, "SB19-227 Harm Reduction Substance Use Disorders" (bill summary). https://www.leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-227
  12. Colorado General Assembly, House Bill 23-1167 (session law, ch. 144, 2023; amends C.R.S. 18-1-711). https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/sl/2023a_sl_144.pdf