More than 80 people were found with drugs at a Dreamland drum and bass gig where a 17-year-old was taken to hospital and died after taking MDMA.

Emily Stokes suffered a cardiac arrest having attended an event at the Margate theme park in June last year.

An inquest into the teenager’s death opened today, with Shane Guy, operations director at Dreamland, giving evidence.

He told coroner Catherine Wood that 82 people were found with drugs, and “probably all” would have been discovered during the search process as concert-goers queued to enter the venue.

Mr Guy said the number is what he would expect for “an event with high risk of drug use.”

He explained: “I know it was a number we would expect to find. We have a zero tolerance on drugs. They are refused entry and drugs seized. At no stage were we overwhelmed.”

However, a medical worker hired for the event later told the inquest there were “a lot of drug users”, and described the day as “manic” at the start.

The inquest heard that a full risk assessment was carried out before the event, which was considered to be high risk and attended by about 7,000 people.

Emily was seen on CCTV entering the park on June 29 at 1.30pm, and no drugs were found on her when searched.

Pictures showed her enjoying herself and later she was seen coming out of a toilet and putting something in her mouth and drinking water.

Later on, a bar manager spotted her slumped by the floor.

She was given medical treatment and taken to the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) in the town, where her condition was described as critical.

Less than two hours after being taken to hospital, Mr Guy was informed at 6pm that Emily had died.

Sam Moble, from Manca Security, which had been contracted by Dreamland, was told of Emily’s death by Kent Police, and there was then a “discussion over whether to continue with the event."

A major incident was declared, but it was decided that the concert should continue, rather than having "7,000 unhappy people in the streets of Margate”, Mr Guy said.

Mr Noble added there was an MDMA batched laced with fentanyl going around that had caused deaths in the county in previous weeks.

“We discussed this with the team and raised it in the event briefing,” he said.

Integrated Medical Services (IMS) had been hired by Dreamland for the event, and the inquest heard from employee Sinéad Simms who initially treated Emily, and described her as having an extremely high temperature and appearing agitated and delirious.

Speaking about first encountering Emily, she said: “I was informed of a patient feeling faint and dizzy. They had deteriorated when we got there.

“She was sitting down and ended up standing with her friends holding her up. She told me she had taken two MDMA pills and a few sips of alcohol.

"At first she was speaking but seemed agitated. She was physically shaking. Just seemed she wasn’t having a good time of it. I took her into the tent and that's when she started going downhill.

“I hadn’t seen anyone acting like that before.

‘She was a remarkable young lady and is sorely missed...’

“When I got into the tent, I realised this was serious and I needed someone with a higher clinical ability. I went straight into the majors. The moment she saw all the medical equipment she started freaking out.”

Emily had a heart rate of 200bpm, whereas the normal is between 60 and 100, while her temperature reached 40.9, described as “extremely high”.

Staff tried to perform an ECG, which monitors electrial signals producd by the heart, but “electrodes were slipping off because she was sweating,” Ms Simms said.

“I encouraged her to drink some water. Her temperature went down very slightly. I tried to calm her and slow her breathing. Nothing really was working,” she explained.

Finishing her evidence, Ms Simms told the hearing: “I ended up leaving because another call came in inside the medical centre and someone else took over.

“She was still agitated and delirious when I left, but was still vocal. She wasn’t really making much sense. She was talking to people who were not there.

“Emily required a higher clinical grade than I had. I decided before I left that she needed to go to hospital."

Ms Simms described how she and colleagues were “inundated with patients”.

Describing the event as a whole, she said: "When the day started it was quite manic. There were a lot of drug users and also trauma, so people who had fallen over."

The inquest heard there was one private ambulance hired for the day by IMS, and a decision was made to call them to take Emily to hospital, rather than the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMb).

Lauren Fuller-Jones, a qualified paramedic who was working as a technician for IMS, looked after Emily after she was called over by Ms Simms.

She said: "I knew I needed to get her to hospital and asked for Kent Central Ambulance Service (KCAS). KCAS [the private ambulance] said they were on their way back to the event from taking another patient to QEQM. I knew the hospital was in close proximity. I believe around five minutes.

"There was a risk SECAmb may be diverted. I stuck with them because I knew they would be coming directly for Emily.

"KCAS has all the same equipment on board, but I don’t know about the drugs (medication). I don’t think SECAmb would be able to do any more for a high heart rate.

“It’s hard to say if it would be any different if I called SECAmb. We may have only been a Category two based on the information we gave them, which is an 18 minute response time.

“I was aware there was only one ambulance. I was told it was on its way back.”

Ms Fuller-Jones said Emily seemed to be having a “severe reaction to MDMA”, adding: “there could have been potentially more facilities to deal with MDMA overdose patients, such as cannulation.”

The ambulance arrived just after 4pm, with a handover performed at 4.05pm. Paramedics left with Emily at 4.16pm.

When asked how IMS decides how many private ambulances to hire for an event, managing director Chris Young told the hearing: "There’s no predefined guide for how many ambulances to have for an event like this. The Purple Guide [a health and safety guidebook for event organisers] doesn’t specify the number of ambulances.

“It depends on things like proximity to hospital, time of year, the activities on site, data from previous events.

“The only time it varies from one ambulance is for a large-scale event, for example one that goes across miles or has camping. It depends on the distance of the site, and to hospital.

“If QEQM wasn't there, consideration would be given to additional ambulances.”

The inquest earlier heard that a police sergeant had questioned the number of private ambulances planned for the event.

However Mr Young said no one raised the issue to him and IMS and was not at the meeting where the question was asked.

The inquest heard Emily was not blue-lit to hospital and no pre- alert was issued to the QEQM, which informs staff an ambulance is on its way and what’s wrong with the patient.

In a statement, KCAS staff said they asked if it was a blue-light transfer and were told no.

Mr Young: “There would be an expectation that the medics handing the patient over would tell them if it was a blue light response, but ultimately it’s down to the ambulance staff.”

Mr Young said he “would have expected” Emily to have arrived at hospital more quickly.

The coroner asked Mr Young whether 999 should have been called, rather than the private ambulance.

He replied: “That’s a difficult question to answer. We have no knowlege if when we call 999 how soon an ambulance would arrive or where it would be.

“We are in direct contact with KCAS and wouldn’t be diverted. Had the call been made earlier and KCAS were not available, maybe 999 would have been called.”

Since the event on June 19, IMS have made changes to how they work.

Mr Young told the hearing: “We have changed ambulance providers. The minimum staff training levels (for ambulance crews) have been upped.

"We now have a policy to pre-alert QEQM of all patients on route."

Emily was in care and a social worker from the authority responsible for her- Waltham Forest Council in London - also gave evidence today.

Kay Mockford described how the teen started to have trouble with drug and alcohol use in a Kent foster placement at 16.

She told the court: “Her foster carers were really proactive with Emily.

“They were trying to get her to understand the repercussions of drugs and alcohol, but she would go out with friends and come back drunk. She started to use cannabis in the home.

“We both tried to encourage Emily to access services to help, but she didn’t think she had a problem with it. She thought she could deal with it.

“It was very much a case of that's what her friends did.”

Emily was offered professional drug and alcohol service by Ms Mockford, but declined “on a regular basis”.

The girl - who has been described as artistic, a fantastic baker and a remarkable woman - was moved to Kent when she was young.

When her foster placement in the county broke down, Emily was moved back to the capital.

Ms Mockford - who saw Emily in person every six weeks - said: “I explained to her long before that when she got to 18 she would be put into a semi independent placement back in Waltham Forest.

“Because of her behaviour she was bought back early, in April.

“We tried to rehouse her in Kent but had no success. She wanted to stay in the county, but our policy is that children come back into their local area when they turn 18.

“Otherwise, they are taking up a council home that a Kent child could have as well.

“It was a hard time for Emily.

“She struggled with it because she had been around her friends for such a long time. She would spend a lot of time on the phone with them.”

But once in the facility - which has 24 hour staff and a 10pm curfew - Emily did not touch drugs or alcohol for the first week.

“It looked like she had turned a corner,” the social worker said.

But after a visit to Canterbury with friends, where it is thought she purchased drugs, Emily asked if she could have a ticket for the gig in Margate.

Ms Mockford said: “She said she was staying in Kent.

“I said she can’t stay, because we wouldn't know where she was staying.

“Emily didn’t give us those details, so we didn’t buy her a ticket.

“I had said she couldn't go, because I didn't want her to stay overnight, I didn't know who she was going to stay with, and she refused to give me details of when she would be back.”

Despite this the teenager bought a ticket to the event with her own money, which is gained through a council benefit.

Staff at the semi-independent facility did not know she had travelled to the event, as residents are not monitored throughout the day and are free to leave - provided they meet the curfew.

Mr Mockford added: “If she told me how she was getting home I wouldn’t have stopped her. We know it was something she really wanted to go to.

“Sadly, there was nothing within my power to stop what happened.”

She also gave a touching tribute to the 17-year-old, saying: “I had a lovely relationship with Emily.

“She was a very quirky young lady - never had the same hair colour every time I saw her.

“She was so artistic and a fantastic baker. She was very funny and clever as well.

“I would always have a can of Coke for her in the car after school. I very affectionately called her chocolate chops. Sometimes we would just sit and talk and put the world to rights.

“She had a great friendship group that absolutely loved her, and she just loved life. She was a remarkable young lady and is sorely missed.”

The three-day inquest continues.