Controversy in Greensboro: official numbers contradict EMT’s claim of ‘nearly 200 overdoses’ at Bassnectar 360

It’s no secret that bassheads often go the hardest at any given event. However, Bassnectar’s NYE 360 is one in particular that requires extra medical teams due to the massive scale of the arena-sized event. The 2018-2019 gathering set attendance records at the Greensboro Coliseum, which is already the nation’s second largest indoor venue, with 22,300 fans entering through its doors.

However, massive controversy was ignited across Greensboro over the belligerently high overdose numbers put forth by one EMT. He claimed nearly 200 people were treated for overdoses from drugs, “including mushrooms, cocaine, molly, LSD, and ecstasy.”

The medic was employed by a private medical services company called Paradocs, which was contracted to set up an on-site triage unit through the Bassnectar team and Coliseum staff. The medic, who wished to remain anonymous, questioned why the city would allow such an event to take place.

“It was really mass-controlled chaos,” he stated to WXII 12. “I asked the police: Why weren’t they arresting people? They basically threw it off as: If we arrest one, we would have to arrest them all and it’s just not enough of us compared to them.”

The medic’s grossly over-exaggerated claim was later contradicted when an official from the Greensboro Coliseum emailed the local news source once the official numbers had come in. Andrew Brown, the Coliseum’s public relations manager, said only 108 people were treated for a variety of medical services beyond overdose symptoms. Brown’s number comes directly from Paradocs, who assisted in the preplanning of the event.

“It was a very large concert, third largest in the history of the Greensboro Coliseum, that in itself says a lot,” said the Greensboro Police Chief Wayne Scott. “But we deal with very large venues that have exceptional problems of all types all the time, whether it be traffic, people overheating, heat exhaustion. “

The EMT says he stands by the number of patients he observed at the concert. However, now it’s shaping up to be just that — mere observation that was blown out of proportion by the media. Brown also stated that five people required transport to area hospitals for further treatment and were subsequently released. It’s a fact which contradicts the higher numbers that WXII 12 News previously reported via information given to them by Guilford County Emergency Medical Services.

“[T]he medical response numbers that Paradocs provided are likely accurate, while the EMT’s numbers are likely inaccurate,”  Chief Scott went on to say. “Not everyone was an overdose.”

Despite the Hampton PD tipping off the local Greensboro police force that bassheads do love to go wild, now many local officials’ judgement is coming under question by important members of the community. While the Hampton Coliseum (home to the last two BassCenter events) holds somewhere around 10,000 people, the crowd in Greensboro was over double that capacity. Even still, the Hampton police always welcome bassheads with open arms and unconditional acceptance.

Whatever the case, it’s safe to say that Greensboro may not be welcoming back the Bassnectar community after the fallout from NYE 360.

Source: WXII 12 News.