SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — This is a big week in Scottsdale as the Waste Management Phoenix Open gets started later this week.
More than 240,000 people are expected to watch golf, attend concerts, and party during the week-long event.
The Scottsdale Fire Department has prepared all year to make sure it runs smoothly and safely.
"When you come out the weather is great, people are having fun, but there’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes just to make this place safe," Capt. Dave Folio said.
Top three safety tips:
- 1. Stay hydrated - Get ahead of the game, start drinking water the day before you come out. Then when you're out here having a few beverages maybe mix water in between each
- 2. Protect yourself from that Arizona sun - Definitely wear and bring sunscreen
- 3. Ditch the heels - Wear comfortable shoes. There are a lot of uneven surfaces out here and cracks in the sidewalks.
Folio said falls and intoxication are the top two calls they respond to at the Open.
"Intoxication is up there, and then falls and trips on the uneven surfaces, they'll twist an ankle sometimes."
There are plans in place if that happens.
"We've got an alternative care tent set up Starting Wednesday," he continued. It has doctors and nurses and we can treat you in there, give you an IV, not send you to the hospital. We'd maybe put you in rideshare once you pass evaluations and your vitals are good and it allows us not to fill up hospitals."
Folio said if there's an emergency they can respond within a minute. There will be 50 to 60 firefighters out there every day.
"If someone is not breathing if they have a heart attack when seconds matter, that’s important for us to get on scene quickly."
Most importantly he said have fun responsibly.
"I think the highest number of people I've heard we treated in the care tent one day was 67," he stated. "Which is still pretty good considering there are 240,000 people out there. For the most part, people hydrate and get the message and we're all adults out here having fun."
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