Why professional event medical care at your festival is necessary
As soon as you bring an audience together on a site, health risks arise. Think of visitors who feel unwell in the heat, sprains on a crowded site, overheating or incidents involving alcohol and drugs. At a festival with music, crowds and a long duration those risks increase. Professional event medical care ensures trained responders are on hand to give the right help quickly and, where necessary, to escalate to the ambulance service.
In the Netherlands, the Veldnorm Evenementenzorg (VNEZ, the Dutch event medical-care standard) is the national standard for this. The field standard sets clear agreements about good and safe event medical care and describes which competencies and levels of care you deploy. The field standard has no formal legal status in itself, but it carries authority because municipalities and the GHOR use it and municipalities often include it as a condition in the event permit. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd) also uses the field standard as an assessment framework.
How to set the level of care with your festival's risk profile
Event medical care is tailor-made. You do not simply place a fixed number of first-aiders, but match the care to a risk analysis. For every event you describe in advance which health risks you expect; from that follows a risk profile that determines which level of care is needed.
Factors that weigh in the risk profile include:
- The number of visitors and the density on the site.
- The nature of the event and the make-up of your audience (age, vulnerable groups, expected behaviour).
- The type of music and programme, and whether it prompts physical exertion or surging.
- Expected alcohol and drug use.
- The weather conditions, such as heat, cold or storm.
- The duration of the event and whether it is multi-day, with a campsite for example.
- Practical factors such as the type of site, accessibility for an ambulance and the distance to the nearest hospital.
Aggravating factors such as overnight stays, excessive alcohol or drug use, heavy physical exertion or risky weather raise the risk profile and with it the required level of care. You do not set the final level alone: the GHOR advises your municipality on this and the municipality records it in the permit.
The levels of care from the Veldnorm Evenementenzorg (VNEZ)
The field standard has replaced old terms such as first-aider, BLS and ALS with clearly defined levels of care, so that it is clear what each responder can and may do. The levels rise with the complexity of the care and can be deployed alongside or in addition to each other:
- Basic First Aid: first-aiders with a valid diploma or certificate. Suitable for small, low-risk events.
- Event First Aid: first-aiders with additional competencies for larger events or a heightened risk, with methodical action and effective communication.
- Basic Care: non-specialised care professionals such as nurses and doctor's assistants who assess and prioritise care seekers (this level replaced the old BLS+).
- Emergency Care: specialised nurses who work in, for example, the A&E, ICU or anaesthesia department and perform additional procedures while awaiting the ambulance.
- Specialised Emergency Care: care at the level of ambulance care and medical specialists, with for example ambulance nurses, A&E doctors or a mobile medical team doctor (this replaced Advanced Life Support).
- Medical Care: doctors, nurse specialists and physician assistants deployed to measure, matching the expected care demands.
For most small to medium-sized festivals, first aid forms the basis. With a higher risk profile you scale up with care professionals, emergency care and, where needed, a doctor. Which level suits your event you determine together with a certified event medical-care provider and the GHOR.
How first-aiders work: in pairs and without side tasks
The field standard sets clear requirements for the way you deploy your responders. Two principles are important for your planning.
First, responders work according to the four-eyes principle: during the event you always work with two care providers together. So you deploy first-aiders in duos, never as a single person.
Second, first-aiders are not given side tasks that come at the expense of their care capacity. So do not also deploy your first-aiders as cloakroom staff, fire watch, access control or security; the moment care is needed, they must be immediately available.
Keep this in mind when rostering: count on at least a duo per care post, plan relief for breaks and a long festival day, and keep the care function strictly separate from other crew tasks. You roster the first-aid provision and shifts together with your other crew in the crew module of festival.productions, for example, so that at a glance you can see whether every post is continuously staffed.
Registering care contacts and reporting them anonymised to your municipality
You record every care contact at your festival. Responders register what they see and do on a care-contact form or tally sheet: the number of contacts, the type of complaint and the handling. This registration is important for the continuity of care during the event and for the evaluation afterwards.
Afterwards, as the organiser you submit an anonymised report to the permit issuer, so your municipality. The municipality passes this on to the GHOR, or the event medical-care provider delivers it directly by arrangement. The report contains no traceable personal data and serves as an evaluation: it helps improve the deployed care and the risk advice for future editions.
Working with the GHOR and the ambulance service
The GHOR (Geneeskundige Hulpverleningsorganisatie in de Regio, the regional medical emergency response organisation) is your most important point of contact for medical care. The GHOR assesses the risk profile and advises the municipality on the minimum desired level of care and the deployment of responders, after which the municipality includes that in the permit conditions. Start this conversation well in advance, because a permit with medical advice is not arranged in a week.
Your own event medical care must not put extra strain on the regular ambulance care in the region. That is why the principle is that you deal with and stabilise as much as possible on-site yourself, and only escalate to the emergency number 112 and the ambulance service when it is really necessary. The higher levels of care are specifically aimed at bridging that period until the ambulance arrives well.
So make concrete arrangements in advance about access routes, the accessibility and drivability of your site, a clear arrival point and the communication lines between your care post, security and the control room. Record this in your safety plan and running order.
From risk profile to a watertight care plan
Work step by step towards a care plan: make a risk analysis, set the level of care with the GHOR, contract a certified care provider, roster the deployment in duos without side tasks, arrange the registration and incorporate everything into your safety plan and running order.
Disclaimer: this is general information and not medical or legal advice. The exact level of care for your festival is always determined in consultation with your municipality and the GHOR and together with a certified event medical-care provider.