Event medical standby
Emergency medical care for events, from planning to close.
Madera Event Medical Services provides EMTs, paramedics and emergency nurses for events in Madera and California's Central Valley. We work with organizers, schools and venues to plan appropriate medical coverage, and to place qualified clinicians on site when people gather.
- Planned in advanceCoverage is reviewed against your site, crowd and activities.
- Written quotesStaff, hours and cost are set out before anything is confirmed.
- Local requirementsWe check what the county's EMS agency asks of your event.
- Clear hand-offRoutes to a 911 ambulance are agreed before the event begins.
What we provide
Medical care that is already on site
A planned event brings people together in a place that was not designed around emergency care. Crowds slow movement, courses and fairgrounds spread over long distances, and heat, exertion and alcohol can all raise the chance that someone will need help.
Event medical standby places trained clinicians inside the event, where they can assess and treat people directly. If someone needs a hospital, those clinicians can begin care and prepare the patient for hand-off to a 911 ambulance. Madera Event Medical Services provides those clinicians, along with the planning that helps an organizer decide what coverage suits the event.
Clinical staffing
We can provide a complete medical team for your event, or individual EMTs, paramedics and emergency nurses to fill open positions on a team you already run. Staffing is matched to the level of care the event calls for, its length and the number of locations to be covered.
On-site care
Our usual setup is a pop-up medical tent with tables, chairs and emergency gear, which gives guests and staff one clear place to go for help. At smaller events, it may be two EMTs and a few bags of gear, close to the activity. Clinicians can also move through the crowd or along a course on foot.
Event medical planning
Before recommending coverage, we look at expected attendance, the activity, the layout of the site, the likely weather and the distance to a hospital. We then explain our recommendation in writing, so you can make an informed decision and share it with your venue, insurer or permitting agency.
Levels of care
Clinicians working side by side
EMTs, paramedics and nurses work side by side at events, all offering pre-hospital emergency and first aid care, each within the scope of their credential. The number and mix of clinicians is recommended for each event.
What each clinician may do is set by California regulation and by the local EMS agency where the event takes place, so final staffing depends on local requirements as well as on the event itself.
| Clinician | Scope of care | California credential |
|---|---|---|
| EMT | Basic life support: evaluating the ill and injured, oxygen, bleeding control including tourniquets, splinting, spinal motion restriction and automated defibrillation.6 | Certified through a local EMS agency and recognized statewide.7 |
| Paramedic | Advanced life support: ECG monitoring, advanced airway care, intravenous and intraosseous access, and medications, as approved by the local EMS agency.8 | Licensed, and accredited by the local EMS agency. |
| Emergency nurse | Assessment, treatment and observation within California nursing practice and the event's medical plan. | Registered nurse licensed in California, with emergency care experience. |
Events we cover
Different events carry different risks
A wrestling tournament in a gym, a rodeo on a hot afternoon and a distance run along rural roads raise very different questions about what could happen, where people will be and how an ambulance would reach them. Coverage should reflect those differences.
School and youth athletics
Games, meets and tournaments, where exertion, contact and heat can all play a part. We work alongside athletic trainers, coaches and your existing emergency plan.
Rodeos, fairs and festivals
Long days on open ground, with every age group in attendance. Coverage often combines a pop-up medical tent with clinicians moving through the grounds.
Runs, rides and endurance events
Participants push themselves, sometimes far from a road. Planning focuses on the course, the finish line and how to reach someone quickly.
Concerts and live music
Dense crowds make it harder to reach a patient. Positions, sight lines and exit routes are worked out with your production and security teams.
Community and corporate events
Parades, company days and civic celebrations often need a modest team. Our aim is to recommend what the event reasonably calls for.
Other events
If your event is not listed here, tell us what you are planning. We can talk through the risks and whether medical coverage makes sense.
Why on-site care matters
Some emergencies are sensitive to time
On-site care cannot prevent every emergency or guarantee an outcome. It can mean that trained help is already present when one begins. Published guidance on two time-sensitive conditions, and the local climate, show why that is worth planning for.
Cardiac arrest
For every minute without CPR, survival from a witnessed ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest falls by 7 to 10 percent. Early CPR and defibrillation are central to the response.
Ibrahim, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 2007. View sourceExertional heat stroke
The National Athletic Trainers' Association states that when medical staff are on site, patients with exertional heat stroke should be cooled first and transported second.
Casa et al., Journal of Athletic Training, 2015. View sourceCentral Valley heat
The average high in Madera in July, the area's hottest month, is 96°F. Summer events here should include a plan for shade, water and treating heat illness.
Weather Spark. View sourceHow it works
From first contact to event close
- 1
Send your event details
Tell us the date, location, expected attendance and anything unusual about the event. Preliminary information is fine, and we can work through the rest together.
- 2
Review and recommendation
We consider the risks of your event and any local requirements, then recommend a level of care, a number of staff and where they should be positioned.
- 3
Written quote
You receive a written quote covering staff, hours and what we need from you on site, so that both sides are clear on what has been agreed.
- 4
On-site coverage
Our team arrives before your guests, reviews routes and communications with your staff, and remains for the hours agreed in the quote.
Service area
Madera and the Central Valley
We are based in Madera and work with events across the surrounding counties. Local EMS requirements differ from one county to another, so we check what applies to each event during planning.
- Madera County
- Fresno County
- Merced County
- Kings County
- Tulare County
- Mariposa County
Planning an event further away? Please ask, and we will tell you whether we can help. More about our service area.
Working with local EMS
Part of the response, not a replacement for it
On-site clinicians can begin care early, but patients who need a hospital still go through the local EMS system. Standby does not replace 911. Before each event, we work with you to agree:
- How and by whom 911 will be called
- Where an ambulance would enter the site
- How a patient would be brought to the ambulance
- How clinicians will hand over the patient and describe the care given
Planning an event?
Send us the date, the location and the expected attendance. We will reply to discuss recommended coverage and a written quote.