Face of Nation : A doctor who treated two young people who died due to MDMA overdoses at a Sydney music festival has told a court of the frantic moment they were brought into the medical tent.
Dr Andrew Beshara told NSW’s Coroner’s Court he was contracted to provide medical services at the Defqon.1 festival in September, but had “limited experience in providing critical care”.
He said he was the junior of just two doctors in the tent where Diana Nguyen, 18, and Joseph Pham, 23, were taken after suspected overdoses. The festival was attended by more than 30,000 people.
He told the court the medical team was “extremely busy” on the hot and dusty September day and he was constantly dealing with cases of asthma attacks and dehydration.
The court heard about 7.30pm Mr Pham was brought to the tent, but the doctor said he was already treating a patient for MDMA-induced psychosis and another for asthma.
Mr Pham was non-responsive and the medical team was unable to find out what he had ingested.
Dr Beshara told the court he suggested an ambulance be called almost straight away, but between 10-15 minutes later Ms Nguyen was brought in.
He told the court he said: “We need to get his guy (Mr Pham) to the Emergency Department (at hospital) straight away.”
However the ambulance didn’t arrive until over an hour later, by which time Mr Pham had suffered a cardiac arrest in the tent.
Dr Beshara said he carried out CPR on Mr Pham — who was also given an adrenaline.
He said he loudly and repeatedly requested an ambulance which eventually arrive at 8.35pm — taking Mr Pham to Nepean Hospital where he died.
Shortly after Mr Pham was brought into the festival’s medical tent, the more senior doctor was attending to Ms Nguyen while Dr Beshara tended to Mr Pham who had briefly become stable.
However, Mr Pham needed intubation to give him oxygen in case he suddenly deteriorated and Dr Beshara said he had no experience in administering the tube alone.
To make matters worse, Mr Pham’s lockjaw made it extremely difficult.
“His jaw was essentially wired shut and his arms and legs were tensed up,” he said.
Dr Beshara said he asked why the ambulance took so long, but he has been given no explanation.
He said he wouldn’t be comfortable doing such a major event with Event Medical Services again, adding “there should have been a lot more staff on”.
He suggested having four doctors in the medical tent would have made dealing with so many medical issues “more comfortable”.
The court also heard from police officer Jennifer Clissold who was at Nepean Hospital on the night the two festivalgoers died.
Ms Clissold said she saw text messages on Ms Nguyen’s phone from her fiance and friends, urging her to stay safe.
She also told the court she saw earlier texts which indicated she was buying pills from her mate.
A friend of Mr Pham’s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court he had been picked up by the 23-year-old and his brother on the day of the festival.
He said Mr Pham showed him a black bumbag and he knew there were MDMA pills inside, because his facial expression gave it away and “everyone takes them at these type of events”.
They saw drug dogs when entering the festival and saw cops busting festivalgoers, but added that the “majority” just walked through.
He said Mr Pham told him later in the day that he had taken three or four pills, and said he appeared to be “happy, energetic and dancing”.
“It did shock me,” he said. “It seemed like a lot.”
He said that some in his group of mates only take drugs at music events and often take two or three because one just starts to “wear off”.
The evidence was given as part of the second day of a two-week inquest into the deaths of six young Australians at NSW music festivals.
The inquest is examining the deaths of Diana Nguyen, 18, Joseph Pham, 23, Callum Brosnan, 19, Josh Tam, 22, Alexandra Ross-King, 19, and Hoang Tran, 18, who all died due to drug overdoses over two festival seasons.
On the first day of the inquest, the court heard how Ms Ross-King became unwell after taking three MDMA pills at Sydney’s FOMO music festival in January.
When her bus arrived at the event, Ms Ross-King told her friends she was worried about being caught with MDMA pills by police and took three in one go.
The inquest will run for two weeks with further hearings in September.
