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Questions to ask about your role and service to Mardi Gras

Q1.Can you please give me your full name and a description of your role and the services you provide. Jem Masters I am the co-ordinator and a volunteers in the medical tent at Mardi Gras


Q2. How did you get into doing this? Knowing the problems that occur at dance parties and having gone to parties myself I wanted to give something back to my community so I volunteered.  

Q3. How long have you been doing this? I have been a volunteer since 1995 and the co-ordinator since 2001

Q4. What pervious jobs or roles helped prepare you to be able to do this? I am a registered Nurse with mental health experience and I also work in accident and emergency at a major city hospital so I am used to dealing with these issues

Q5. Do you just support the Parade or do you also do other events? There is a series of events in mardi Gras season they include a pool party, several dance parties, a fair at Victoria park and even a film festival. We provide medical backup to the parties and are there on fair day. 

Q6. Have you received any recognition or awards for what you do? Yes I am often interviewed about my role. In 2008 I was voted one of 25 most influential gay australians by the magazine Same Same.

Q7. How do you get your helpers? Mostly though word of mouth, people that I work with, friends that are either nurses, doctors or paramedics or friends of friends currently we have 300 people on the data base.

Q8. What has changed since you started and has any of this had a larger impact? In recent years there is a change in the party drugs that people are using this means that there is less margin of error especially in drugs like GHB GBL. One fascinating new trend encountered by the medical team is a phenomena called ‘bucket listing’ – older people who want to experience dance parties and try drugs before they die. ‘In 2010 we had this older, married couple from Sydney’s conservative North Shore,’ they were in their late 60s or early 70s and wanted to go to a Mardi Gras party and try drugs. So they turned up and
they took drugs of some description. The lady was having a fabulous time but her husband was hallucinating and was not very well and turned up at the medical tent for support.’
 Q9 Whats your best achievement? 

I am proud that to date the team has never lost a patron, although they have had some close calls. ‘I remember a guy who came into the medical tent who had a temperature of 42. ‘He’d been at the dance party for about six or seven hours. He’d been taking ecstasy and he was hyperthermic and we were really concerned. We made sure that he had fluids, we tried cooling him down and then fast-tracked him through to the hospital.’



Q10.  How do you see things changing in the future?   It is hard to say this year we had hardly any really sick clients and no one was shipped off to hospital but it is hard to predict.

Q11. Have you ever helped any famous people/clients? I have but can’t tell you who they were due to confidentiality.

·Q12. What budget do you have? Work with donations from the people that use our services 

Q13. Do you manage any people under you? If so how big is your team and what do they co-ordinate specifically? I roster different skill mixes of staff thoughout the night we have a doctor on every shift however a nurse manages the shift and I co-ordinate the whole night. We have a total of 40 staff on during the night.

Q14.  Whats your worst client experience ever? Not one specific but when we have to ship people off to hospital is the worse experience. We have a good relationship with the ambulance staff and most of the patients are taken to the city hospital where I work and they know how to cope with them. 

Q15.  Whats your best client experience ever? Again not one specially but when people come back and thank us for what we did for them. 

Q16. Is your work appreciated? Greatly appreciated by the people at the time and they frequently come back and visit at their next party and thank us again. All the other workers at the partys appreciate us being there also.

On a more personal note:


Q16. Who do you most admire – can be a work or personal hero? No one specific but people who help others for no personal gain.

Q17. What is the biggest risk you have ever taken – again person and/or work wise? I am not a big risk taker these days was much more so when I was younger.

Q18. What is the best advice you have been given – both work and personal wise?

Q19. What/who motivates you – both work and personally? What motivates me most is helping others and keeping them safe.

Q20. If you could make a difference this year what would it be? I believe that in this role myself and my team are making a difference according the statistics that we collect. 



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