BOISE, Idaho — Boise State added more shade, fans and free water stations for Saturday’s Banana Ball game at Albertsons Stadium after several people were transported to local hospitals during Friday’s event.
Boise State officials said more than 140 calls for assistance were made over the course of Friday’s seven-hour event, with approximately seven people transported to local hospitals.
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Ada County Paramedics said it originally had 20 personnel assigned to the event. As patient contacts increased, the agency brought in eight additional paramedics, along with 12 Boise Fire Department personnel and two responders from Acute Rescue, a private ambulance service.
Nampa neighbor Laura attended Friday’s Banana Ball game and described the heat as “brutal.”
She said she enjoyed the event but prepared differently before returning to Albertsons Stadium on Saturday.
“So when we planned on coming today, I made sure that I brought the cooling towels. I hydrated before I came, and I told all my family, like bring fans, bring cooling towels if you're coming today,” Laura said.
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Laura also said she waited in line for nearly an hour to buy water Friday, an experience other fans shared.
In response to the heat and increased demand for assistance, Boise State added more tents and fans to the pregame event in the parking lot Saturday. The university also handed out free water bottles to thousands of fans and provided water refill stations in the parking lot and throughout the stadium.
Maribeth Harman and her family made the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Rupert to attend Saturday’s game.
“So yesterday we just heard there was a lot of heat exhaustion and people got overheated and passed out, and so we were a little nervous about that, but thankfully we came prepared,” Harman said.
As the venue host, Boise State said its public safety and guest services teams worked alongside Boise Police, Boise Fire and Ada County Paramedics to provide on-site treatment and support throughout the weekend.
Laura said the additional resources appeared to make a difference.
“I'm pretty sure it helped people. We chose not to come as early as we did yesterday because of what we went through yesterday, but we planned differently. We brought our towels. We brought our fans,” she said.
Boise State has not yet provided additional information about medical incidents during Saturday’s game.
