This is the time of year that Las Vegas sees a high number of visitors. Tourists to the Southern Nevada area peak around the celebrations of New Years, a time that the Las Vegas Strip is closed down and every casino and hotel is completely full of reserved rooms. Parties are hosted all over, and the chicest nightclubs and venues have special events that bring in everyone from bachelorette parties to big-name celebrities. This is the very peak of festivities for Clark County businesses, and they prepare for months to make sure all of the details are perfect. New Years weekend is also a very intensive time for local Las Vegas emergency responders, including police, EMTs, and fire crews. This is a really critical time of year for these departments, because the Las Vegas valley will often see a spike in DUI and other injury car accidents, fires due to fireworks, theft and assaults on the strip due to the large crowds and increased consumption of alcohol, and general unrest and disorderly conduct in part because of the celebration atmosphere that takes hold of the city. On top of the general preparations for the population swelling to accommodate all of the visitors to the area, you can bet that the city and the county are taking additional precautions to make sure that another emergency situation is less likely to happen in Las Vegas and more specifically on the Las Vegas Strip itself. Las Vegas Hotel and Casinos should be taking safety steps and preparing to handle whatever comes their way, making sure that hotel guests and tourists don’t suffer a Las Vegas Casino accident or injury on their property.
It’s especially alarming, then, the news that recently broke regarding many of the local Nevada resort and casino properties. More specifically, regarding the nearly half of the 155 casinos located in the state that submitted emergency response plans to the State and were found to be lacking in procedure, protocol, or completeness. The article also found that” most resorts on the densely developed Las Vegas Strip also have not updated emergency plans with the state since 2012″ the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. This is some alarming news to be getting just a few short days before all of the New Years Eve celebrations are scheduled to take place, in many of these resorts and casinos having sub-par emergency response plans and no clear way to keep tourists visiting the Las Vegas strip in the event of an accident or an emergency.
What is more disturbing is that one of those casinos and/or hotels that are not completely prepared to manage a situation in the case of an emergency is none other than the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, the site of the terrible Route 91 Harvest Festival Mass Shooting where a gunman fired down into crowds of concertgoers from his hotel room window, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more in this senseless act of violence that changed the landscape of Las Vegas events forever. Emergency plans generally cover the protocol for a casino property to know how to act in the event of an incident, and can range across a number of topics, from a natural disaster to an active shooter situation. Although the state of Nevada can request these plans and can enact fine for not submitting them, there is little else lawmakers can do to compel large Las Vegas resorts and casinos to comply with requests for the emergency plans. And while there is limited oversight with making sure Las Vegas resort and casino properties maintain their emergency response plans, the question still remains: if a resort or casino doesn’t have a complete plan in place and an emergency happens, is the property then liable?
While that question is still unanswered, one thing is clear- if you or a loved one is hurt on one of these Las Vegas resort and casino properties, either during or independent of and emergency, the best thing you can do is find a good attorney. Benson and Bingham are the best casino accident and injury lawyers in Las Vegas, and they will provide the best representation for tourists and locals alike. Don’t think that these corporations are above the law. Contact Benson and Bingham today to get a free consultation, and to find out if you may be entitled to compensation.
