Phish Overflow to Copley
by J.B. McKinley

MORRISVILLE - "If anything happens things will go smoothly," said Copley
Hospital spokesman Peter Wright confidently, Tuesday, before Phish's
last concert is supposed to inundate the Northeast Kingdom with partying
fans.
Copley Hospital is playing the part of a sort of second line of medical
defense for the concert. North Country Hospital in Newport is closest to
the concert and is the primary care locale. Of course, Wright said,
"Phish has a medical center on site...where they will triage..." and
offer first aid. However, if an orthopedic emergency should arise or if,
for whatever reason, North Country is swamped, patients with many kinds
of complaints could be sent to Copley. North Country has no orthopedic
resources.
Wright said when the concert is under way, Copley will be communicating
with the Phish people on a "regular basis," probably several times a day.
At Copley, Wright said the physicians and other staff are aware of the
possibility of a high volume of patients. "We are prepared in our
Emergency Room," Wright noted and explained, "We are adding people to
the on call staff."
"We want to be prepared, but not to go to overkill," was the way Wright
described Copley's preparations. "The staff has been fantastic!"
Wright also noted that just coming away from the state's major Operation
Red Clover emergency preparedness drill was particularly important up at
the hospital. It pointed out a few communications glitches, that were
remarked and have been fixed.
Wright said it's not actually what might happen at the concert venue,
because he said that is a well planned and somewhat controlled
environment. It's more of a question mark what's going to happen outside
the concert venue. "That's what we're planning for," he said.
"We're ready," said Wright.