NHS chiefs reflected on whether a major incident should have been called when revellers took ill after taking ecstasy at a dance festival in St Helens.

A 19-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man became seriously ill following suspected ecstasy overdoses in September.

The two had been partying at the Reminisce dance festival in Sherdley Park.

It was later confirmed by police that as many as 15 people who attended the festival also took ill after taking ecstasy pills.

According to a new report published by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the trust’s executive committee “reflected” on whether a major incident should have been called.

The report says: “The director of operations and performance (Rob Cooper) provided a briefing on the festival that had taken place the previous weekend and the number of seriously ill people who had attended A&E.

“There were reflections on whether this should have been declared a major incident and how the trust could work more closely with the local authority to be better prepared for future events on this scale.”

A major incident is an emergency that requires special arrangements by one or more of the emergency services, the NHS and/or the local authority.

Overall coordination of major incidents, other than those that are purely fire related, will usually be the responsibility of the police.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said the force treated the events in September as “critical incident”.

The College of Policing describes a critical incident as “any incident where the effectiveness of the police response is likely to have a significant impact on the confidence of the victim, their family and/or the community”.

Ann Marr, chief executive of the trust, told the board this week that the A&E department at Whiston Hospital had “giant attendances”, due to crowds attending along with patients.

Ms Marr said: “We had really giant attendances in A&E and a particularly poor performance that day because of the nature of the types of patients that were attending.

“So young people with crowds with them, in effect.”

Merseyside Police confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporter Service that the 19-year-old woman and 22-year-old man have recovered and have been released from hospital.

Det Ch Insp Chris Sephton said: “Thankfully, the two young people who were critically ill have made full recoveries, with the help and support of medical staff, their families and friends, but it could have easily been so much worse.

“Buying tablets is like playing Russian Roulette with your life and we don’t want anyone to learn the hardest lesson of all.

Festival organisers had previously warned guests to watch out for “some bad blue diamond pills” which were circulating at the one-day event.

Police also recovered a batch of blue ecstasy pills that had been deposited in an amnesty bin at the park.

Two St Helens men – aged 31 and 42 – were arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply but were later released without charge.

Extensive CCTV, witness and forensic enquiries have been carried out and detectives are continuing to look for people with information to come forward and assist.

Det Ch Insp Sephton said: “We will continue to act on all information provided to assist this investigation and we particularly want to hear from anyone who may have bought or taken tablets at the festival, which they either still have possession of, or know anything about where they were bought.

“You may be worried about being in trouble for taking illegal drugs, however our priority is to find who supplied these drugs and put them before the courts.”