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Atlanta host city nightlife safety training
CMS Thesis Description: Mayor Andre Dickens and first responders conducted a safety training session on Ponce to teach Atlanta nightlife staff lifesaving techniques including Narcan administration, tourniquet use, and crowd management.
ATLANTA - Atlanta city officials and first responders gathered at Live Nation’s Atlanta headquarters on Wednesday evening to provide safety and emergency training for local nightlife workers.
Atlanta nightlife safety training
What we know:
Mayor Andre Dickens' Office of Film, Entertainment, and Nightlife hosted the training day at Live Nation’s headquarters on Ponce de Leon Avenue. Business owners, bartenders, servers and security personnel received hands-on instruction from first responders on critical emergency medical procedures.
Mayor Andre Dickens attended the session to hear directly from nightlife professionals. Officials noted that Wednesday's session is part of an ongoing quarterly initiative, with the next training session scheduled in a couple of months.
"We're a town of people that love to entertain," Mayor Dickens said. "A lot of conventions, a lot of sporting events, a lot of tourists, a lot of business people."
Atlanta Fire Battalion Chief Sherwin Brown demonstrated how to administer Narcan nasal spray to reverse drug overdoses and how to apply forceful pressure with tourniquets during severe bleeding situations. Cortney Foster of the Atlanta Nightlife Advisory Council emphasized that training venue staff to respond to medical crises keeps patrons safe.
"Drug use is real in the nightlife space," Foster said. "And rather than just trying to pretend it doesn't happen, knowing how to handle it when someone gets in a bad situation is more beneficial."
Nightclub safety track record
The backstory:
Atlanta has not experienced a mass casualty incident at a nightclub in approximately two years. In 2024, a shooting at Elleven 45 Lounge in Buckhead killed two people and injured six others, leading Mayor Dickens to successfully seek the venue's closure.
The most recent shooting at an Atlanta nightclub occurred in July at Tattletale Lounge on Piedmont Road SE, where one man was wounded and survived.
What we don't know:
City officials have not disclosed the total number of venues represented at Wednesday's training or specified if Narcan supply kits will be provided directly to all participating establishments.
Future quarterly training sessions
What's next:
The Office of Film, Entertainment, and Nightlife plans to host its next quarterly training session for venue owners and workers in two months.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from demonstrations and statements provided by Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta Fire Battalion Chief Sherwin Brown, and Cortney Foster of the Atlanta Nightlife Advisory Council, as reported by FOX 5 reporter Rob DiRienzo.