Health

First aid and medical services

All events, no matter how small, have the possibility of a medical incident. It is essential that you provide adequate facilities and qualified personnel to administer first aid. Based on the nature of the event, you may also need to ensure medical services such as doctors, nurses and paramedics are available on-site. An appropriately resourced first aid/medical provider should be able to manage most incidents involving event attendees on-site.

To establish the level of first aid/medical provision you need, seek advice from a qualified first aid/medical provider. It is also a good idea to ascertain whether any of your event staff or volunteers have basic first aid training.

Key questions you should ask include:

• What would be the first aid/medical provider’s hours of operation on-site?
• How many staff would they need? This will vary with each event. Providers should be familiar with different event types and not assume that all similar events are the same.
• What would be the skill mix of first aid/medical staff and the numbers of each? All staff must be appropriately trained and qualified. Note that the title “paramedic” is protected in NSW and only an appropriately qualified person may use that title.
• Where would staff be positioned?
• Would they be roving or only located at static posts? If the latter, these should be well-lit and signposted.
• Would they be able to bring patients back to the static post? How would they do this?
• What would be the medical equipment provided at the event (such as oxygen, defibrillator, IV fluids, suturing, medications, restricted medication analgesia)? A doctor with no equipment is a highly qualified first aider. A first aider with a lot of equipment is still a first aider.
• What would be the treatment capacity of the medical centre(s) on-site during normal operations and would they have a surge capacity (what would they do if they became busy)?
• Would they provide you a copy of their Medical Plan?

As the event organiser, it is up to you to understand and be satisfied with the level of care the first aid/medical provider will supply.

First aid/medical providers should be given a copy of your emergency response plan (including the emergency medical plan and emergency communications plan).

If an event is being held on water, you will need to have a qualified aquatic first aid provider present.

You will be able to find a list of event first aid suppliers to choose from by conducting a web search.

NSW Ambulance

NSW Ambulance does not provide event first aid services. Their role at an event is to support an on-site first aid/medical provider, providing treatment and emergency transport of patients to hospital if necessary.

When NSW Ambulance is present at an event, their paramedics will work collaboratively with on-site providers, however, they do not report to or take direction or instruction from the first aid/medical provider on-site. Command and control of all NSW Ambulance resources remains with NSW Ambulance. In the event of a major health incident, the senior NSW Ambulance paramedic on-site will assume control of the response unless NSW Health advises otherwise.

If you require additional information on first aid/medical coverage or the role of NSW Ambulance at events, email the NSW Ambulance State Planning Unit.

Water

It is vital that you make drinking water available to everyone at your event, including attendees, participants, staff, volunteers, contractors and performers, especially if:

• you are expecting large crowds
• the weather is likely to be hot
• participants are required to walk long distances
• there is the chance that participants will overheat, such as in a mosh pit or if space is limited.

It is a legal requirement that you have free drinking water readily available when selling alcohol.

Learn how to make your event water wise.

Toilet facilities

It is essential that there are sufficient toilet facilities at your event for the number of expected attendees.

You can search for permanent toilets at your outdoor event site using the National Public Toilet Map, which can also be filtered to show accessible toilets.

Toilet facilities for events where alcohol is not available

There is no uniform Australian standard for the number of toilets required at an event. However, as a guide, Safe and Healthy Mass Gatherings by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (PDF 841KB) suggests the following number of facilities for outdoor events where alcohol is not available.

_{*This table is reproduced with the kind permission of Australian Emergency Management, Attorney General’s Department.}

Toilet facilities for events where alcohol is available

Where alcohol will be available, the number of facilities needs to be substantially higher.

Other factors

When determining the toilet facilities required, you should also consider:

• event duration
• crowd demographic
• peak periods
• providing at least 1 accessible toilet for people with a disability. This should be located close to any accessible viewing area, for ease of access.

Portable toilets

If there are not enough permanent toilet facilities on site, you may need to provide portable toilets. 

You should talk to a reputable supplier about the number and placement of toilets, and arrangements for cleaning and emptying during the event. The supplier may want to visit the venue and site.

You will need to seek approval from the landowner in order to install portable toilet facilities on their land.

Additional considerations

In addition to toilet facilities, you should also consider providing:

• sanitary bins
• baby change rooms
• separate facilities for catering staff
• if appropriate, provision of condoms at some events
• sharps disposal facilities to minimise the safety hazard posed by abandoned needles and syringes.

Note that drug use, while never to be condoned, is a risk that must be taken into account for certain types of events.