5 Music Festival Medical Volunteer Opportunities for NPs
Two years ago (time flies when you’re having fun!) I mentioned that my husband and I attended Tennessee’s annual Bonnaroo music festival. While I wouldn’t really classify the Woodstock-esque Bonnaroo as our typical social scene, we had an awesome day at the event. This week we’re taking things a step further by springing for a 4-day camping extravaganza to attend the festival in its entirety. Get your antibacterial hand wipes ready.
I won’t be attending Bonnaroo in any sort of professional capacity this year, but I have several EMT, nursing, and nurse practitioner friends who use their professional credentials to volunteer at music festivals around the country. Volunteers are given free tickets to the event in exchange for a set number of hours of work in the festival’s medical facilities. The experience allows medical volunteers to put clinical know-how to work outside of the traditional clinical setting. What music festival volunteer opportunities are available to nurse practitioners in 2015?
1. Jamcare Medical
Jamcare is a team of emergency medical professionals, psychologists, and crisis intervention workers that staff music festivals around the country. The organization aims to treat concert attendees in the field not only for medical emergencies but also substance abuse and mental health crises. From Florida to New York, Jamcare has multiple opportunities available to medical volunteers this summer.
2. RockMed
“Setting the standard in non-judgmental event medicine”, RockMed staffs concerts and sporting events with medical volunteers. RockMed’s reach extends primarily to the greater San Francisco area and is a unique opportunity for nurse practitioners looking to help out on the West Coast.
3. Work Exchange Team
The Work Exchange Team (WET) sets up volunteers of all kinds with opportunities at music events around the country in exchange for free tickets to the show. Covering events from Canada to Colorado and West Virginia, WET has volunteer opportunities for nurse practitioners with a variety of musical tastes.
4. Job Monkey
The JobMonkey search tool allows you to sort through “the coolest jobs on earth” including unique volunteer opportunities. Many concert venues and festivals post their open medical volunteer opportunities on the site. You may even find some non-musical volunteer openings that pique your interest.
5. Find Your Own Festival
If you have a musical festival in mind and would like to volunteer your services as a nurse practitioner, in many cases you can do so directly on the festival’s website. For example, the famed Burning Man music festival in the Nevada desert is currently seeking emergency services volunteers for this year’s event. The tamer Austin City Limits music festival also accepts volunteer applications directly on its website.
Which festival seems best tailored to your musical likings?
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