Music Festival on-site Ambulance Capabilities.

Any large-scale music festival on a greenfield site with a sizable number of festival-goers must provide sufficient medical facilities. A medical centre with additional first aid stations is the norm but for emergencies that require surgery or intensive care the ability to evacuate patients is essential. What are the usual capability requirements for festival site ambulances.

Most festival organisers create a comprehensive plan for medical coverage during their events with staff, supplies and equipment available to treat most medical emergency cases. However, any plan should allow for the transport of any urgent medical emergencies to a nearby hospital where they have the ability to deal with critical cases. Medical care on a festival site usually operates using a layered medical response approach with basic first aid followed by on site medical centre care then moving patients to local hospitals depending on the seriousness of a particular case. 

On-site Medical Facilities. 
A large music festival site will usually have a central medical centre with qualified medical staff and limited medicines and equipment which may include defibrillators (AEDs), oxygen and advanced airway management tools plus IV fluids. These medical centres can deal with most standard medical emergencies except patients that require surgery or intensive care. The medical centre is usually supported by a number of first aid stations that will be located at strategic places throughout a site and for most festival-goers will be the first port of call. Qualified first aiders can deal with minor injuries like scrapes and cuts but for more serious cases patients will be transferred to the central medical centre. 

On site Medical Transport and Support. 
Organisers often use modified golf carts or ATVs to move patients around a site and are useful for getting festival-goers from a first aid station to the medical centre quickly. These modified vehicles are small enough to navigate crowded sites and often have off-road capabilities too to get through challenging terrain and muddy fields for example. Equally, these can be used by medical response teams to get from a medical centre to the location of a patient for more immediate treatment. 

Fully Equipped Ambulances for Patient Evacuation. 
The majority of cases where festival-goers seek medical assistance can be dealt with by on-site facilities but there are sometimes cases where immediate comprehensive emergency medical care is required. The on-site facilities may be unable to deal with serious cases, and the patient needs to be urgently evacuated to a nearby hospital. This is where the on-site ambulance comes into play as it can get someone to a fully equipped hospital within the golden hour important for survival. An ambulance will often be equipped with Advanced Life Support (ALS) and equipment including defibrillators (AEDs) for cardiac emergencies. In addition, ambulances have oxygen, IV fluids, bandages, dressings, antiseptic wipes, splints and braces for fractures or sprains. The ambulance will have a stretcher or a specialised transport cot to safely move a patient from the festival grounds. All ambulances are equipped with communication systems to allow operators to talk directly with on-site medical teams and local hospitals. 

External Consultation. 
Festival organisers will always include external consultation when planning their medical facility coverage. Aside from specialist companies who can supply qualified staff, fully equipped medical centres and ambulances organisers also need to collaborate with local hospitals. This includes creating scenarios where critically injured patients can be quickly transferred to an appropriate hospital. The hospital should have staff and facilities to deal with a variety of cases that may include emergency departments and the provision of intensive care. Working closely with local hospitals is often a condition for the issuance of event related permits and in some cases can be a requirement to keep event insurance valid. 

For festival organisers planning their next event using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

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