Dystopia Rising: Georgia

Health and Safety Handbook

Updated: 11/2021

Thank you and template credit to
Dystopia Rising: Texas

As the staff of an often physical and challenging LARP, it is only responsible to be prepared for a wide variety of emergency scenarios. Our responsibility is not to be prepared to survive in the wilderness for months, to treat septic zed bites, or to put out a house fire. Our job is to stabilize a scenario and call the professionals. This workbook is intended to facilitate that by providing a mental shortcut when the adrenaline hits. Find the appropriate page, follow the checklist, and above all: Don’t Panic.

Staff Information
Owners
Caryn Coyne,
Jonathan Schneck

Site Information

A.H, Stephens, Georgia State Park, 456 Alexander Street NW, Crawfordville, GA 30631

Taliaferro County, 706-456-2602

GPS Coordinates:N 33.5634830 | W -82.8971560

Emergency Services: For emergencies call 911

  • Taliaferro County Fire Department, 122 Broad St · (706) 456-3469

  • Taliaferro County Sheriff, 758 Warrenton Rd SE (706) 456-2345

  • University Hospital, 2460 Washington Rd, Thomson, GA 30824
    Open 24 hours · (706) 595-1411

  • Morgan Medical Center, 1740 Lions Club Rd, Madison, GA 30650,
    Open 24 hours · (706) 342-1667


Site Information
Indian Springs, Georgia State Park,
Group Camp McIntosh: Cenie Rd, Flovilla Georgia
Butts County, 770-504-2277

GPS Coordinates: N 33.247433 | W -083.923450

Emergency Services: For emergencies call 911

  • Flovilla Fire Department Station and Emergency Services
    1372 GA-42, Flovilla, GA 30216

  • Butts County Sheriff, 835 Ernest Biles Dr, Jackson, GA 30233,  (770) 775-8216

  • Spalding Regional Hospital, 1053 McDonough Rd, Jackson, GA 30233

Medical Emergencies

Limited medical and first aid supplies are available in the Post Office/Public Works, Ops (Monster Camp). This is also a rest, recovery, and decompression room as needed. A copy of our Emergency Handbook is available in this room as well. There are no medicines available in this room, so if you require medication, make sure to bring your own as we can’t guarantee we will be able to find someone who can provide pain medication or other medications on site. 

Should I dial 911?

  • Is someone unconscious and unresponsive - their eyes are closed; they do not respond to verbal commands or their name?

  • Can someone not move without overwhelming pain?

  • Is someone not breathing?

  • Is there no pulse?

  • Is there bleeding that does not stop with application of pressure?

  • Are they having a severe allergic reaction and are rapidly progressing?

  • Have they been bitten by a venomous creature, like a snake, that can progress quickly?

If you answer yes to any of these, dial 911 NOW. 

Then contact Caryn or Jonathan by whatever means possible. 

Never leave a player in distress alone unless you MUST do so to summon aid. Never let a player in distress walk alone to Logistics, their tent, or anywhere.

Do not worry if multiple people pull out a phone, it’s better than no one actually calling. If possible, get a medically trained community member to the scene as soon as possible. Doing so overrides any and all in-game events and concerns.

Often, our best response to an emergency will be to do as little as possible while simply keeping people calm and clear of the scene until an ambulance arrives. Basic first aid can be applied as dictated by training, but we are unlikely to perform field surgery. Keeping the person calm, still, warm, and stable is the most important care we can provide.

How to elevate a game Safety Hold! to a medical emergency

When a call of SAFETY HOLD! is shouted and repeated, all game activity that can hear the hold should stop until the hold has been cleared. Sometimes it is simply for clarification or safety concerns, and the game will resume shortly. If there is a medical emergency, staff should take the following action: 

Assess the situation

Is someone not breathing, unconscious, has no pulse, is in overwhelming pain, or bleeding uncontrollably? Dial 911. If not, proceed to the non-emergency workflow farther below. 

Emergency Situation

  1. Call 911 - The nearest Guide will immediately ask all nearby players if anyone has a cell phone on them. If yes, that player is responsible to dial 911 or surrender their phone to someone who is willing to call. If there are no cell phones nearby, the staff member should radio/contact Logistics or nearest source of a telephone to indicate that there is a medical emergency and give them the details of said emergency. Once Emergency services are contacted, make sure Logistics staff are alerted to what’s going on.

  2. Contact Game Staff and contain the scene - The nearest guide in the area should radio/send for medical assistance from any trained personnel in the community. A list of players with training is attached to this document. If the person experiencing the emergency cannot be moved to Logistics or the Medical Room in Kiva, then the player should be moved to a more private location, with the exception of one friend or contact who wants to stay to provide emotional support. Staff should feel free to remove that friend if they are responding poorly to the scene. If they are unable to be moved at all, remove unnecessary players from the location.

  3. Provide first aid - The priority of care until an ambulance arrives is to keep the person safe, still, warm, and calm. These priorities override all other concerns in and out of game. 

  4. Collect Important Information - If the person is conscious and attended, assign someone to write down the injured party’s emergency contacts, such as parents, partners, etc. EMT’s may request this info. 

  5. Guide emergency personnel to the scene - Staff should coordinate people to guide emergency personnel to the scene of the emergency if the person cannot be transported to a Logistics location. One person should stand at the turn off from the nearest main road way to flag the ambulance in. Another person should be stationed at any road or trail intersections if possible, to quickly guide help to the area. 

  6. Hand off the situation to the emergency personnel - Once emergency personnel arrive, staff should hand over the situation to them entirely. If a staff member is not yet on scene the guide who initiated the emergency medical call should partner with the responders to communicate who is involved and what happened. This guide should also ensure that they obtain the name of the hospital that the person is being transported to. 

  7. Provide after-care - Once emergency responders leave, guides and staff involved should report to Logistics to debrief, share information, and decompress. Sit down and have a snack and a drink of water, and let the adrenaline shake out. Information about the event should be distributed to players in an organized and simple fashion. It is better to be brief and sparing with details, simply assuring players that the person is in professional care now. It is up to the person involved how much they choose to share about their condition and circumstances, once they are safe and recovered.

Non-emergency Situation

  1. Transport the person to Logistics or Med Room - The person should be transported to Logistics or where first aid kit is available for further attention. If the person cannot walk unassisted, it is best to radio/call/send for trained personnel. If none are available, simply accept volunteers to help support the injured individual. Do not accept an entire crowd - at maximum 4-6 people are needed to carry a person who cannot walk at all. More likely, one or two helpers are sufficient. Never let a player walk to Logistics alone. 

  2. Notify Caryn or Jonathan as needed - At Logistics/Med Room, the person can be kept warm and be allowed to take any time needed to calm down. Basic first aid care can be applied according to need and knowledge. 

  3. Continue to assess the situation - If further medical attention is required, the staff at Logistics can coordinate to arrange for transport to the nearest urgent care clinic or emergency department, as appropriate.

Mental Health Emergencies

  1. Call a Safety Hold to remove the person from the scene and any potential upsetting triggers. Sometimes it is difficult for someone in distress to articulate what is wrong. Be gentle and ask them if they would like to leave the scene. 

  2. Take the person to a safe and private place, if they are willing to go, and send someone for a trained guide or staff person if possible. Do not crowd them, but ensure that they are not alone. You may want to also have another person with you, to fetch assistance as needed and to ensure that there is a witness to anything that happens if the person is very upset. 

  3. Give them lots of space and a calm environment as best can be provided. 

  4. If they cannot be calmed, then provide a way for them to be safely escorted off site, or contact Emergency Services. If they have someone they trust who can stay with them, facilitate that.

  5. Alert Logistics/Staff as to what is happening as soon as possible

Fire Emergencies

In the event of fire, there is a fire extinguisher in all buildings with a fireplace. Each fire outside of a building should have a bucket of water or sand next to it as well. 

If it can be contained with water or fire extinguisher, do so and contact Caryn or Jonathan, or the nearest Guide in Ops or Post/Public Works, so they can notify the appropriate authorities. If the fire cannot be contained, contact the nearest Guide so that we can call 911. 

Staff should station themselves at the road entrance and every major road/trail junction to guide emergency responders to the site.

Do not engage in or encourage heroics - It is better to lose possessions than to have injuries.

Weather or Site-related Emergencies

It is up to Caryn or Jonathan to determine if a game needs to be canceled for safety reasons. This may include inclement weather or a local threat in the area. Every attempt should be made to contact the players as early as possible before the game about this decision.
In the event that a game needs to be canceled mid-event, players should assemble in the tavern. At that location, game staff will be able to check off what players are accounted for against the game check-in lists. Assembling at a fall-back location will also allow game staff to reassess the situation in a safe environment.

In the event of a Tornado threat, players should seek shelter in interior, windowless rooms where possible.

Police-related Emergencies

As stated in the Dystopia Rising main rule book, “Real life violence, real life threats, or activities with pose a real life danger to self or others will result in the person(s) involved being removed from the event as well as being turned over to the authorities.”

In the event that the staff feels an action meets that stated criteria:

  1. Contact Caryn or Jonathan. Let them know the names of those involved and the situation at hand. They will dial 911 or call the police department as appropriate. If neither can be reached, then the Logistics Guide on duty or nearest Guide on hand should be contacted. 

  2. Calm the situation. At no time should game staff or players be involved in restraining individuals or intervening in a situation which has resulted in contacting the police, except in the most extreme situations where lives are at stake. In most instances, intervening or escalating a situation will only prolong or worsen what is occurring.

  3. Guide emergency personnel to the scene. Staff should coordinate people to guide emergency personnel to the location of the person needing assistance. One person should stand at the turn off from the nearest main road way to flag the ambulance in. Another person should be stationed at any road or trail intersections if possible, to quickly guide first responders.

  4. Hand off the situation to emergency personnel. The Guide who initiated the emergency call should partner with the responders to communicate who is involved and what happened.

  5. Provide after-care. Once emergency responders leave, guides and staff involved should report to Logistics to debrief, share information, and decompress. Sit down and have a snack and a drink of water, and let the adrenaline shake out. Information about the event should be distributed to players in an organized and simple fashion.