A near-fatal medical incident last year has sparked renewed tension between Burning Man organizers and local authorities, none of whom can seem to agree on medical protocols for this year's event, which begins Sunday.
The Reno Gazette Journal reportsthat Burning Man organizers last week asked Pershing County Sheriff’s Office and Humboldt General Hospital officials to meet and sign an agreement that organizers believe will help to prevent any further medical accidents.
The agreement intends to clarify medical personnel's responsibilities and procedures, Burning Man spokesman Jim Graham said.
Humboldt General Hospital officials refused to attend the meeting, which was cancelled, and Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen refused to sign the agreement.
The proposed agreement is the result of years of strife between Burning Man and Humboldt General Hospital, the event's medical provider from 2011 to 2014. The tension came to a head in 2014 after a woman died after falling from an art car and Burning Man severed the $500,000, five-year contract with the Winnemucca-based county hospital a year early.