The Bruin Bash festivities that took over UCLA Sunday night were punctuated by ambulances and Los Angeles fire trucks in an unprecedented number of alcohol-related medical responses.
Throughout the night, there were 18 alcohol-related responses from Emergency Medical Services, said UCPD spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein.
In years past, there are normally four to five alcohol-related responses throughout the entire evening that Bruin Bash takes place, Greenstein said.
L.A. fire ambulances were called in to help because of the high number of calls to EMS, Greenstein said.
EMS responded to eight calls between 8 and 9 p.m. alone, all of which came from Drake Stadium, where the Bruin Bash concert was taking place.
Six of the eight people had to be transported to a hospital, Greenstein said.
There were another three responses to the residence halls between 9 and 10 p.m., and an additional three to the Los Angeles Tennis Center, where the dance took place after Bruin Bash.
There was no alcohol served at Bruin Bash or any of the following events, Greenstein said, which means students were drinking beforehand.
The Office of the Dean of Students will be in contact with each of the students cited for underage drinking both for disciplinary purposes and to determine a pattern or reason for why the number of people under the influence was so high, said Kenn Heller, an assistant dean of students and associate director of the Center for Student Programming.
“The magnitude, the types of cases seemed to be much more severe (than in past years),” Heller said. “There seemed to be many more of them who … needed more medical attention.”
Neither Heller nor Greenstein could identify a reason for the high numbers this year, although both said they will be working toward addressing the issue among students.
“There’s always additional information we can provide people with to be safe and conduct their affairs,” Heller said. “If you’re going to do something beforehand, just be cognizant of what you’re doing.”
Greenstein said police will be increasing “education, outreach and enforcement” to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Charles Ma, the Campus Events commissioner for the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said he thought the high number of responses may have been a random occurrence.
“I think it might have just been a fluke,” said Ma, a fourth-year civil engineering student and former Daily Bruin illustrator.
“Ultimately, the reason we do Bruin Bash is to keep people on campus,” Ma said. “And to keep people away from situations where they might be in danger.”