Motion Notion 7
We don’t want
to cause any jealousy, but we’ve decided that Motion Notion is our favourite
event. This year it was a 72 hour nonstop festival, and it was hot and sunny
the whole time. We’ve come to the conclusion that our polyester blend uniforms
are not keeping up with their wicking properties propoganda!
The event was
staffed by
Brian,
Stephani,
Travis
and Laura. This year we brought two extra
members so we could cat-nap in shifts. We had three providers on at a time, and
one person was able to sleep for an hour at a time. We get a little ‘spun’ from
sleep-deprivation after a couple of days, but the festival is so much fun it’s
worth it.
Motion Notion
is planned and organized by Katalyst Productions, and it had even more exciting
things this year…the stages were more spread out throughout the area, and the
one thing that we really liked was the Mushroom tent. It sat in the forest
looking like a mushroom (hence the name!) and inside there were other
‘mushrooms’ on the ground and hanging from the ceiling, that would sing and make
noises when you touched them. People would go inside and make music, and it
seemed that the more people who were touching the mushrooms, the cooler it
sounded. So many people asked us if we had checked it out that eventually we
had to go just to see what everyone was talking about. We weren’t
disappointed!
Some of the
campsites were like nothing we’d ever seen as well. At one point we found a
living room set up in the forest, with couches, coffee tables, and lazy-boy
recliners. Many thanks to the lovely lady who hosted us at that site! That takes
camping to a whole new level!
The nights
were as cold as the days were hot, and a lot of people would come by the medical
tent to invite us over to warm up at their camp fires. As always, Motion Notion
was attended by the nicest people.
We ran into
several people that we’d met last year, and it was great to see familiar faces.
You might recognise some of them from our pictures of last year. Thanks to
everyone who gave us permission to use their photos!
Security was
once again provided by Alberta Crowd Management, and we can’t say enough about
this group of wonderful professionals from Edmonton. We are pleased to work
with them any time for any event, and they are our recommended security
provider. They keep their events safe and orderly without dampening anyone’s
fun. We greatly appreciate that they never interfere with our work, which is a
problem we commonly run into with other security companies. At one point we
requested one security guard just as a precaution, and when we turned around
there were ten of them! It’s fantastic to know Alberta Crowd Management has our
back if we need them, and it was great to see this wonderfully professional gang
again.
We had lots of
people come by to say ‘thank you for being here’, even though they hadn’t needed
our services. We also had some people stop us when we walked around and ask
where we got our costumes. In the dark, we’re noticeable by the reflective
striping on our uniforms, which is what they liked. We told them where they
could get reflective striping of their own! There were a lot of other amazing
costumes being worn, which were definitely cooler than ours.
The music was
incredible, and there were a lot of lights and visual attractions. Large
banners were lit with black light so they glowed near the main stage, and the
DJs were incredible. The IAS team was caught dancing in their medical tent at
dawn one morning, which kind of shocked the group of people walking by. As they
said, “Wow, usually you EMS people can’t stand this music. You’re not even
wearing ear plugs!” They must have been referring to some other company,
because you couldn’t help but move to the music, it was that good.
We really
enjoy the atmosphere and the people at Motion Notion. The difference with IAS
is that we don’t look at these events as work! We get to go to fun events
without having to buy tickets and meet interesting people while providing
medical care to those who need it. What could be better?
We even
managed to get some shopping done. Motion Notion has the best vendors, and we
couldn’t resist. There was blown-glass art and jewellery, including a jewellery
vendor who made beautiful pieces out of shells and other natural materials.
There were belly-dancing scarves for sale, hats, great clothing, sparkly toys
and novelties, and all sorts of neat items.
Katalyst
productions and the prime mover James did an awesome job of providing for the
EMS crew. We were given a large tent, a generator to provide power as a
neighbour, along with tables, blankets, and cots for patients.
We were kept
busy with minor injuries and illness, including several allergic reactions.
We ran
out of some medications, particularly meds to stop allergic reactions, and we
had to have an emergency shipment brought in from Calgary, which is about a four
hour drive. We saw approximately 50 patients. We had two precautionary
ambulance evacuations, but both patients returned the next day and were just
fine. It was nice of them to drop by the tent to say hi when they got back. We
always appreciate finding out how our patients are doing after the fact! We
handed out a lot of ear plugs and electrolyte replacement for those who were
dancing all night, and loaned out a few jackets. We fixed one of the generators
(an annual tradition now!), loaned out Stephani’s spare car tire, and Brian
changed and repaired a flat tire for one of the festival goers since we just
‘happened’ to have a tire repair kit in the trunk. Travis, (being a millwright
by day, medic
by night!) was able to assist the food vendor with their electrical and
mechanical problems. Laura drove a stranded young girl back to Calgary with her
as well in order to ensure she made it home safely.
We’re always
glad to help out however we can, since we’re a multi-talented bunch! Overall it
was a super safe event with no major incidents, and we had a great time. Thanks
to James, and thanks to Katalyst for having us out again; it’s always a
pleasure!
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