PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Booze-fueled wild times take place at the Redneck Mud Park in Charlotte County.
Those wild and muddy times turned into traumatic injuries this past weekend and it isn’t the first time.
As the saying goes, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
This past weekend, Michael Davis’ crew from Charlotte County EMS was busy with patients.
“This past weekend we saw a total of 13 calls,” said Davis, who’s the Deputy Chief of Charlotte County EMS.
Of those calls at the “spring break” event, one was a trauma alert and eight people were rushed to the hospital. One of those people having their ear amputated and another having their finger amputated.
Even worse, a Manatee County School teacher was killed in an ATV wreck.
“Does being out there on an ATV or an UTV increase the likelihood of having a traumatic incident? It certainly does,” said Davis.
These events attract thousands of people and plenty of alcohol.
At a similar event last November, medics saw nine patients with two trauma alerts. Those included a finger amputation, a fractured femur and a child hit by an ATV.
Kyle Southern said when he moved from Chicago, it sounded like a fun weekend adventure.
But after hearing about recent events…
“It’s not something I would take my family to,” said Southern. “I wouldn’t feel safe.”
The Redneck Mud Park contracts Charlotte County EMS to provide two staffed ambulances. The price tag ringing in at $150 per hour, per ambulance.
That means it isn’t costing you, the taxpayer, a dime. But their calls can bog down emergency rooms.
Since 2017, there have been 65 medical calls. Those including 11 trauma alerts and an average of eight calls per event.
What’s most common?
Fifty-six of the 65 calls were traumatic injuries and alcohol or overdose related incidents.
“If they wanna have fun and it’s dangerous that’s one thing but if you’re operating a place and people are getting hurt like that all the time that’s definitely not something we should have out here,” said Southern.
That’s where he draws the line when it comes to family fun.
“It’s not something I would take my kids to,” he said.
The Redneck Mud Park did not return NBC-2’s Gage Goulding’s calls for an interview.
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