Event Medical Services: Planning beyond the ✅
Updated: 6 hours ago
This article is intended for Event Organisers.
When a participant needs medical help, suddenly the questions start flying:
Where is the nearest medic?
What is the path?
Who is covering the rest of the event while they receive treatment?
These questions should ideally be answered before the event day.
There's a Cantonese idiom my mom continues to say, something of: not having to dig a hole when it is time to take a shit.
With REDSTAFF Medical, we work with organisers to understand their event, identify its medical support needs and plan how care will be delivered on the ground. That includes the personnel, equipment, deployment locations and arrangements for getting a patient to further care when needed.
Medical coverage starts with understanding your event
Most event organisers start thinking of participant count. After all, the Ministry of Manpower's Workplace Safety and Health (First-Aid) Regulations (a.k.a. the law) is to have one first aider for every 100 workers.
But this is an event's context; 1,000 patrons do not mean 10 first aiders. Attendance is a useful starting point, but it does not tell the whole story.
![[SOURCE] This is a 1000 people, all in an auditorium, with what seems to be watching a product launch? The 1:100 ratio doesn't work well here; the event does not need 10 first aiders.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8ec808_a7a3a9cdd65a4d1cb00381aa12f6bebc~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_795,h_522,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/8ec808_a7a3a9cdd65a4d1cb00381aa12f6bebc~mv2.jpg)
A seated corporate function and an endurance race may have similar participant numbers, yet they very much require very different medical arrangements. Physical exertion, participant age, event duration, terrain and access all influence the coverage needed.
Before recommending a deployment, we want to first understand:
The activities: What will participants be doing, and what demands will those activities place on them?
The people: Who is attending, including children, older adults and participants with additional support needs?
The venue: Is the event contained within one space, spread across several locations, or moving along a route?
The schedule: How long does coverage need to last, and when are the busiest periods?
The access: How will medics reach a casualty, and how will an ambulance reach the site if required? We often determine this.
Involving us early gives organisers time to address practical issues while the programme and venue layout are still being developed.
That's why emailing or WhatsApping us "I need first aiders for this date and time" without telling us the event activities and details often get a redirection to use our Event Support Request Form. It's better at helping us capture all the necessary details required about your event without the back-and-forth.
Providing the right level of care
“Event medic” is a broad term. First Aiders, Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics and Registered Nurses bring different training and capabilities.
The appropriate team depends on the event’s risks and the care likely to be needed. Some deployments may be supported by First Aiders or EMTs; other events carry medical consequences / presentations that call for a Paramedic or Registered Nurse to lead the medical response.
What we do is by recommend staffing according to the event’s needs. Where appropriate, a mixed team allows clinicians and first aid personnel to work together, with clear responsibilities and escalation arrangements. The important question is whether the team has the right skills, equipment and capacity for the event you are running.
On this note, we (the medical providers) recommend the level of care your event requires. In some events, lower-capability is not appropriate, like a single first aider to standby for a combative competitive sport. It is ill-appropriate to have non-medical providers determine the level of medical coverage necessary. Higher care may need an expanded budget.
Positioning medics where they can respond
A well-equipped first aid station is useful only if people can find it and the medical team can reach those who cannot get there themselves.
For a compact venue, a clearly identified medical point may provide a suitable base. A larger site or route-based event may require mobile personnel on foot or on bicycles, or several deployment positions. There may even be mobile patrols originating from first aid stations, if the event footprint covers a wide geographic area.
We consider walking distances, barriers, crowds, terrain, and access routes when planning where teams should be positioned. If shared, even the width of the route for response must be considered.
We also look at what happens when a team is occupied with a patient: the rest of the event still needs coverage. Are there sufficient secondary resources to respond? Will response times be affected? This proactive approach not only helps us measure and evaluate our readiness, but also enhances the overall safety and effectiveness of our response strategy.
REDSTAFF Medical aims to keep responses under 180 seconds, regardless of the geographic footprint. We aim to reach wherever you may be: on foot, bicycle, or car, under 180 seconds.
How ambulances fit into the plan
We regularly receive requests for an ambulance to be the sole medical resource at an event.
Now an ambulance may be an important part of an event’s medical arrangements. Event organisers are accustomed to throwing an ambulance on-site and calling it a day.
However, ambulance standby can occupy a substantial part of the medical budget, and the vehicle’s presence alone, counter-intuitively, does not tell you how much on-site care is available.
Two practical questions should guide the discussion:
If the ambulance leaves with a patient, what medical coverage remains?
Can its crew reach a casualty wherever they are within the event site, including areas accessible only on foot?
Crowds, barriers, narrow paths and terrain can limit vehicle access. The event medical plan must account for how personnel and equipment will reach the patient, and how the patient will be brought to the ambulance if transport is needed.
Instead, its role should be considered alongside the on-site team, access requirements and transport plan.
Depending on the event, investing in a suitably skilled on-site team may provide better coverage for the available budget. Dedicated personnel can be positioned or be mobile around the venue and still remain available when a transporting ambulance leaves. Where a dedicated ambulance is needed, it should complement that coverage.
REDSTAFF Medical prioritises the deployment of capable on-site teams who can continue supporting the event. Where ambulance support is required, we arrange it through our ambulance partners as part of the wider medical plan. The aim is to match resources to the event’s needs and maintain continuity of care throughout the deployment.
We explore more on the benefits and limitations of deploying ambulances for event medical coverage here.
Making the medical plan usable on event day
The event medical plan needs to reflect how your event actually operates.
A route-based race, for example, needs a reliable way to identify a casualty’s location along the course -- mile markers? Water stations? Geographical landmarks? An event spread across several halls needs clear venue references and accessible routes between them. Staff should know how to contact the medical team, whether through a dedicated telephone number, radio channel or event control. There should also be a backup if the primary method fails.
When requesting help, they should be able to communicate the exact location, what has happened, how many people need assistance and whether there are hazards affecting access. Agreed landmarks, zone names and route markers are more useful than vague descriptions such as “near the stage”.
We have had one event where the event organiser told us to attend to an incident at the side of the stage, but did not specify: stage right, or house right?
“Send a medic here” may feel obvious when you are standing beside someone who needs help.
For a medical team elsewhere in the venue, “here” gives no indication where exactly you may be, and no picture into what exactly has happened.
Even apparently-specific directions can be ambiguous. “Right of the stage” could mean the performer’s right (stage right / house left) or the audience’s right (house right / stage left): opposite sides of the venue. Agreeing on labelled zones, numbered access points and fixed landmarks before the event reduces this confusion.
Thankfully my youth spent in performing arts helped understand what stage right / house left meant, but please -- communicate that.
Our consultation can also identify practical improvements, such as moving a medical point to a more accessible location or highlighting the need for suitable rest and hydration facilities. Organisers can then coordinate these measures with the relevant venue and operational teams. Clear responsibilities help everyone act promptly when an incident occurs.
What to ask your event medical provider
When comparing quotations, we recommend that you look beyond the dollar sign. Yes, the price is a factor, but it is only one of multiple factors.
Ask who will be deployed, what qualifications they hold and why that skill mix is appropriate. Can your event medical provider give you and your stakeholders a brief? A contact list? A risk assesment? A route plan? Clarify what equipment is included, how the team will communicate and what happens if several people need help at once.
Make sure the coverage hours reflect the actual programme, including relevant participant arrival and dispersal periods. Discuss breaks and relief arrangements for longer deployments.
A useful proposal should explain how the medical coverage will work at your event.
Work with REDSTAFF Medical from the start
Our role begins with understanding what you are organising. From there, we help develop practical, proportionate medical arrangements and provide the team to deliver them on event day.
Whether you are planning a sporting event, corporate programme, community gathering or festival, share your proposed activities, venue, attendance and schedule with us. We can help you identify what is needed while there is still time to plan it properly.
REDSTAFF Medical — Keeping Events Uneventful.
