From NCEMSF: Special Events Medical Planning
Over 1.8 million special events take place across the United States annually, posing unique operational and clinical challenges for EMS.
Jeff Huggins, BS, NRP, CEM, chief of strategic innovation and EMS field operations, and Todd Tracey, BS, EMT, emergency preparedness and operations coordinator, both for the Maryland Institute for EMS Systems (MIEMS), delivered “Special Events Medical Planning” Saturday afternoon Feb. 22, 2025 during the National Collegiate EMS Foundation’s annual conference in Pittsburgh.
The speakers covered components of successful planning, including
- Interagency planning. Get your partners around the table, ensuring documentation of planned actions and providing “briefable information” to partners. Is it a brand new event, or one that’s been happening for decades? What are the primary concerns and objectives?
- Planning timeline. Form a planning team, test and exercise, and complete after-action reporting. What went well and what can be improved?
- Risk reduction. This can be the most impactful segment for attendee safety. Free water stations during hot weather, warming and cooling tents, security screens, drug turn-in boxes and other methods can reduce the risk of injury and the burden on EMS resources.
One of the biggest decisions when planning for a special event is treatment determinations. Event planners will typically want patients treated on site vs. being transported off site, for public perception purposes. Also, be sure to stipulate clearly before the event what constitutes a patient counter vs. simply offering assistance to an attendee.
EMS is involved in many elements of a mass gathering—patient collection points, operational communications, integration with law enforcement, and resource coordination are just a few.
“No event is like any other event,” Tracey emphasized.
