That's not surprising to Paul Wertheimer, a consultant with Chicago-based Crowd Management Strategies. Wertheimer, a former public information officer for Cincinnati, got involved in crowd management after compiling a report about the Who concert where eleven people were crushed to death at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium in 1979. Now in business for himself, Wertheimer has released an annual Rock Concert Safety Survey since 1992 and has testified as an expert in the growing number of lawsuits over moshing injuries. Other injuries included paralysis. Wertheimer has found no reports of moshing deaths in 1995 but says serious injuries continue.
Some medical professionals agree that mosh pits are ripe for spinal and head injuries, among others.
Sheila Wolff, a physical therapist in Cincinnati, recently treated a man in his twenties who was paralyzed at a concert. It's just a risk that's not worth taking. It's the younger concert-goers he worries about. As moshing spreads to smaller towns, the chance for injury may increase, he says. He says he split the back of his head open after he was dropped while body surfing.