Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry gave council members “factual numbers” regarding accidents involving visitors in town for Bike Fest and Bikes, Blues and BBQ between Sept. 21-24.
“I saw a lot of different things being told about how busy the fire department and EMS was and how many motorcycle wrecks there were and how many fatalities,” Berry told council members during his mayor’s comments at the council’s regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 25.
Emergency personnel responded to 49 incidents and had 59 patient contacts during the festivals, Berry said.
“There was a total of 10 motorcycle accidents that they responded to that they felt were because of the Bikes, Blues and BBQ event. Six people were flown or transported … from four of the 10 motorcycle accidents.
“The balance of the motorcycle accidents had either minor or no injuries reported.
“In this time frame there were six helicopters utilized, four because of the motorcyclists’ injuries and two that were unrelated to motorcycle collisions.”
Two deaths were reported from the weekend, but neither were a result of an accident, the mayor said.
“No motorcycle fatalities were reported during this time,” he said. “Motorcycle-related patients accounted for approximately 22 percent of the total patient encounters for EMS. And of those motorcycle patients, seriously injured patients accounted for approximately 10 percent of the total patient count.”
Berry said EMS personnel had “doubled up” for the events.
“They had all their people there and had extra ambulances ready,” he said. “They had a third call out and really never even needed a third call.
“I think overall everything went pretty smooth as far as accidents go considering how many bikes were in town.”
Council member Terry McClung said he was glad the city was prepared.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” McClung said. “I’m thankful to death they took the steps to be prepared.”
The Eureka Springs Police Department, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Eureka Springs Fire and EMS all worked together, Berry said.
“Everybody was out working and we’re glad everything went smoothly,” he said. “We’re very fortunate.”
