FFIRST AID ATT LARRGE OR MAJJOR EVVENTS

First Aid at Large or Major Events

The aim of this guidance is to provide sensible and proportionate advice to organisers in providing first aid cover for public events.

If your event is being evaluated by the Council’s Safety Advisory Group for Events (SAGE), you will need to include details of first aid cover in your Event Management Plan.

What is a 'First Aider'?

The HSE Event Safety Guide (see link on the Event Organiser’s Toolkit page of this website) defines a First Aider as: "a person who holds a current certificate of first-aid competency issued by the three voluntary aid societies (or certain other bodies or organisations registered with the HSE); St John Ambulance, British Red Cross Society or St Andrew's Ambulance Association."

In addition, anyone providing first aid at an event must:

• be at least 16 years old and not over 65 years old • have no other duties or responsibilities • have identification • have protective clothing • have relevant experience or knowledge of requirements for first aid at major

public events • be physically and psychologically equipped to carry out the assigned roles. • Also, first aiders under 18 years old must not work unsupervised.

Note: The completion of a three-day 'First Aid at Work' course does not necessarily qualify a person as competent to administer first aid to members of the public. Where “First Aid at Work” qualified persons are used then the organiser must check that they are covered by their insurers to give first aid to members of the public.

The Guide also specifies that:

Public First Aid is a very different scenario to the workplace. First Aiders should not have other jobs to do as well - for example stewarding or security, although this does not stop stewards or security personnel from being first-aid trained.

Those providing first aid at events must have access to proper facilities, details of which are in the Event Safety Guide. Accident books must also be available on site.

What level of first aid cover do I need?

The key to providing first aid cover is to undertake a thorough risk assessment. There are two groups of people that you need to consider when doing your risk assessment and deciding what cover you need:

Employees

Every event organiser needs to provide first aid cover for people attending the event, but don't forget that under the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981, you must also provide cover for anyone working for you. If you do have any employees, use the Health and Safety Executive's First Aid at Work assessment tool (see link on the Event Organiser’s Toolkit page of this website) to find out what you need to provide for them, then factor this into your overall first aid cover.

If contractors are used on site, we recommend that the event organiser should reach an agreement with the contractor(s) to provide joint cover for all persons working on site, again using the assessment tool.

People Attending the Event

Paragraph 769 of the HSE Event Safety Guide provides a way of estimating a reasonable level of first aid cover, which takes into account:

• the nature of the event • the history of the event and any relevant intelligence • any additional factors which may affect the likelihood of risk.

Note that this document is for guidance only and the final provision may vary depending on the nature and risk potential of the event. For advice contact Great Western Ambulance Service, Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Public Protection team, or any first aid provider.