FORT WORTH, Texas — As more images and videos surface from Astroworld Festival, Dr. J Mack Slaughter has the same question thousands of others voiced on social media.
“How are these people able to breathe," asked Slaughter.
The Fort Worth ER doctor said, after watching many videos from the concert, that it's likely many in the crowd could not breathe.
“Literally, your chest wall will touch the back of the person in front of them, touching the back of the person in front of them," Slaughter said. "It gets to the point where, literally, your chest wall can’t expand, and if your chest wall can’t expand, then you can’t bring in oxygen.”
RELATED: What went wrong? New details from Astroworld tragedy reveal the issues that led to injuries, deaths
He also said, in that situation, you can't exhale carbon dioxide, which is equally as dangerous.
Then, there's the panic ensued by feeling like you can't breathe.
“You get light headed. You get confused," said Slaughter.
Then, add the dehydrating effect of alcohol for concertgoers who may have been drinking.
A bad mix, but not an uncommon one for concerts and festivals.
“It was weighing on me," Slaughter said. "It weighed on my heart. I wanted to do something.”
Over the past few years, Slaughter has gained a large TikTok following (@drjmackslaughter_md) and has more than 26,000 followers on Instagram (@drjmackslaughter) for his funny, yet informational videos.
He created a video with four tips for surviving a crowd surge situation, and in just a few days, it's been watched more than four million times.
“I think people are terrified," Slaughter said. "I think people saw those videos and they imagined themselves and wondered what would they do?”
His first tip is to hold up your arms to protect your chest and give yourself more space to breathe.
"Put your arms up, like a boxer, and you’re going to increase the space that your chest wall can expand," said Slaughter.
Second, he said to fight to stay upright. If you fall, you need to work to stand up quickly. He said the best way to think about it is to visualize water in your kitchen sink and what happens when you unplug the drain.
“The people from the outside, they don’t understand what’s happening," Slaughter said. "They’re still pushing in. You can’t stop yourself from falling on the person below you, and if you’re on the bottom…phew.”
When it comes to being pushed and swayed in a crowd of tens of thousands, he said to go with the flow. Don't waste energy trying to fight the movement of the crowd.
"When that wave is pushing you, there's nothing you can do to stop it," said Slaughter.
Lastly, he said to avoid being in a position where you could be pushed up against a hard surface or barrier that you wouldn't be able to get around or underneath.
"It can crush your ribs, it can puncture your lungs...it can do damage to your spine," said Slaughter.
Click here to watch the full video.
While he said he would not recommend parents sending their children to concerts with poor crowd control or without the planned space for medical help to be available, he said he doesn't want the outcome of the tragedy at Astroworld to make people never want to attend concerts.
His hope is that the people putting concerts on will create a safe that is space and that people attending concerts will be equipped to protect themselves should the worst happen.