About
In 1972, Bill Graham asked the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics to staff a medical care tent at his Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin outdoor concerts. That was the start of a vision that was formalized in 1973 by Dr. George "Skip" Gay. More than 40 years later, Rock Med is still providing free, non-judgmental care and setting the standard in event medicine.
Today, Rock Medicine provides all medical coverage at many classic Bay Area venues such as Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, Shoreline Amphitheater, Toyota Amphitheatre, and many other venues.
Rock Med is the official medical provider of Levi’s Stadium, including all 49ers home games and concerts. You can find us on-site at California's best music festivals including Outside Lands, Bottlerock, Aftershock, and Snowglobe, as well as at major events such as the SF Pride Parade and Bay to Breakers.
No matter the event, the doctors, nurses, EMT's, and students who make up Rock Medicine provide the same high standard of care and follow our founder's philosophy in everything we do. Over the last four decades Rock Medicine's technology, uniforms, people, and equipment have grown and changed substantially. What has never changed is our focus: to provide top-notch, free medical care without judgement to those who need it - when they need it, where they need it.
What We Do
Rock Medicine set the standard in event medicine and continues to lead the industry in non-judgmental care. We take pride in ensuring that our staff is better equipped and better trained to provide your patrons and staff high-quality care on-site and we always do our best to get them back to the event instead of the hospital.
While other standby companies may promise on-site care, very few are capable of providing an on-site clinic staffed with doctors, nurses, and mid-level practitioners at your event. Our ALS clinics allows us to provide not only life saving emergency medical care but also routine services such as sobering and suturing on-site at many events. By making these services available at the venue, Rock Medicine dramatically reduces EMS transports from your event while providing your patrons non-judgmental compassionate care.
Unlike ambulance companies who have a financial incentive to send patients to the hospital, we only transport patients when medically necessary and we never charge patients for our care at the event.
Rock Medicine has experience covering events with as few as 20 and with as many as 2 million attendees. Our staffing and operational plans are flexible from EMTs with basic life-saving equipment all the way to a mobile hospital complete with doctors and nurses. At major events, our plans can also include the operation of a medical dispatch center, bike and vehicle-based EMT teams, and multiple first aid stations. In addition to providing medical staff for your event, we can also write your EMS/Event Medical Plans, contract ambulance transport, or provide consulting services.
Our EMTs come equipped with basic bandaging supplies, oxygen and airway supplies, an automated external defibrillator, and more. With higher levels of care, we can supply additional over-the-counter and emergency medications, IV supplies, suture kits, cardiac monitors, as well as wheelchairs, gurneys, and equipment for sobering. Depending on the county, we also can provide earplugs, sunscreen, selected over the counter medications, and water/Gatorade to your patrons via first aid stations at no charge to them.
Every event is different and we look forward to discussing the specific type of medical coverage and care we can provide to your patrons. Please reach out to us to learn more.
Why Volunteer with RockMed?
Rock Medicine not only offers unique experiences to delve further into the kind of care you may want to pursue in your future medical profession, but it is made up of a welcoming and inclusive community of volunteers! You will get first hand experience interacting with patients and medical professionals in fun and fast paced event settings to hone your skills as you pursue a career in health care. Expect to grow your network and meet new friends in the process.