Casper’s medical community had spent months coordinating and planning for worst case scenarios ahead of an influx of up to 35,000 people expected for the eclipse festival.
While the exact numbers of eclipse tourists aren’t officially yet in, the Wyoming Medical Center has gathered their numbers. The good news for hospitals and clinics turns out to be basically no news.
According to stats from the WMC, Saturday’s ER visits hit 89, slightly up from the usual 63. Sunday saw 117 attend the ER.
On Monday only 79 patients arrived at the ER, when the typical number is 85. “We’ve seen an uptick on Tuesday and Wednesday,” said WMC spokesperson Kristy Bleizeffer. “It seems business as usual now”.
There were also no surprises with clinics. “The clinics had about 44 more walk in patients from Friday through Monday than we typically see,” said Bleizeffer. As expected, clinics and first aid stations set up downtown mainly attended to minor issues such as heat exhaustion, dehydration and minor cuts. A grease burn was one of the most serious, according to Bleizeffer.
“People came and enjoyed themselves and they were very smart about it. It was great to put Casper in that light,” said Bleizeffer.
“We had no idea what to expect and everything went very smoothly”
