No event organiser wants to think about emergencies, but every responsible organiser must. The time to plan your emergency response is months before the event, not when a crisis unfolds. The difference between an incident that is managed calmly and one that escalates into chaos often comes down to whether there was a plan in place and whether people knew their roles.
This guide covers how to prepare for and manage emergencies at events of all sizes.
Emergency planning starts with risk assessment
Your event risk assessment identifies what could go wrong and what controls you have in place. Your emergency plan builds on this by defining what you do when those controls fail or when something unexpected happens.
Common event emergencies include:
- Medical emergencies (cardiac arrest, serious injury, allergic reactions)
- Fire in a structure or equipment
- Severe weather (high winds, lightning, flooding)
- Structural failure (stage collapse, barrier failure, tent damage)
- Crowd crush or surge
- Security threats or hostile acts
- Major power failure
- Missing or vulnerable persons (especially children)
For each scenario, your emergency plan should define who makes decisions, what actions are taken, and how they are communicated. This does not need to be a hundred-page document. For a small event, a clear two-page emergency action plan with contact numbers and decision trees is sufficient.
The event control room
For events over a few hundred people, designate a control room (or control point) where key decisions are made during an emergency. This is the hub where information flows in and decisions flow out. At minimum, the control room should have:
- A site plan showing all structures, exits, and emergency access routes
- Radio communications with all departments (security, medical, production, stewards)
- A phone with emergency services numbers and direct lines to the local police and ambulance
- A log book for recording incidents and decisions
- The event safety officer or most senior person with authority to make decisions including show-stop and evacuation
For small events without a formal control room, designate a specific person as the emergency coordinator and ensure everyone knows who that person is and how to reach them.
Communication during emergencies
The biggest challenge during an event emergency is communication. Information arrives from multiple sources simultaneously, decisions need to be made quickly, and those decisions need to reach the right people fast.
Principles for emergency communications:
- Single point of command -- One person makes the decision. Others provide information. This prevents conflicting instructions going out to different teams
- Clear radio protocol -- Use the word "emergency" on the radio to indicate a genuine emergency and clear the channel. All other traffic stops until the emergency message is complete
- PA system -- If you need to communicate with the audience (evacuation, severe weather warning), use the PA system. Pre-script key messages so they are clear, calm, and unambiguous
- Cascade briefing -- After making a decision, brief team leaders who then brief their teams. Do not try to brief every individual from the control room
Medical emergencies
Medical incidents are the most common emergencies at events. Your medical provision should be proportionate to your event size and risk profile. The Purple Guide provides guidance on medical provision for events, though specific requirements are determined through your risk assessment and discussions with your local authority.
At minimum, every event should have:
- A first aid post with a qualified first aider
- A clear procedure for calling 999 and directing ambulances to the correct location on site
- Access information for emergency vehicles, including gate codes, route maps, and a rendezvous point
For larger events, you will typically contract an event medical provider who supplies paramedics, first aiders, and potentially a medical centre or ambulance on site. Brief your medical team on the site layout, the location of defibrillators, and the protocol for major incidents.
Evacuation procedures
Full site evacuation is rare, but you must have a plan for it. Triggers for evacuation might include fire, structural failure, bomb threat, or severe weather. Your evacuation plan should cover:
- Decision authority -- Who authorises an evacuation? This is usually the event safety officer or the most senior person on site, in consultation with the emergency services if they are involved
- Communication -- How is the evacuation announced? PA system, stage announcements, stewards with loudhailers. Have pre-scripted announcements ready
- Routes -- Identify primary and secondary evacuation routes from every area of the site to the assembly point(s). These routes must be kept clear at all times during the event
- Assembly points -- Designate assembly points away from the site where people gather after evacuation. These need to be large enough for your audience and easily identifiable
- Steward roles -- Every steward should know their evacuation role: which area they are responsible for, which route they direct people along, and where they report to confirm their area is clear
Practice evacuation procedures with your team before the event, even if it is just a tabletop walkthrough. On the day, check that all evacuation routes are clear before opening to the public.
Severe weather response
For outdoor events, severe weather is the most likely trigger for significant disruption. Wind, lightning, and heavy rain each require different responses.
High winds affect temporary structures. Know the wind rating for every structure on your site and have a plan for each if wind speeds approach those limits. This might mean closing a tent, lowering a banner, or in extreme cases, evacuating an area.
Lightning is a genuine life-safety risk at outdoor events. If lightning is detected within a certain distance (many events use 10 miles as the trigger), consider pausing outdoor performances and advising the audience to seek shelter in hard-topped vehicles or substantial buildings. Open fields and temporary structures offer no protection from lightning.
Heavy rain affects ground conditions, electrical safety, and audience comfort. Monitor drainage, check electrical connections for water ingress, and be prepared to close areas that become waterlogged or unsafe.
Incident logging
Every incident at your event should be logged, from minor first aid treatments to major emergencies. A good incident log records:
- Time and location of the incident
- What happened
- Who was involved
- What action was taken
- Who made the decision
- Outcome and any follow-up required
This log serves multiple purposes. It provides a factual record for any subsequent investigation or insurance claim. It helps you identify patterns (if you are getting multiple injuries in the same area, there is a hazard that needs addressing). And it supports your planning for future events by showing what actually happened rather than what you predicted.
Post-incident actions
After a serious incident, take the following steps:
- Ensure all affected persons have received appropriate medical attention
- Preserve any evidence at the scene (do not clean up until you have documented and photographed the area)
- Notify your insurance provider
- If the incident is reportable under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013), submit the report to the HSE
- Debrief all staff involved while memories are fresh
- Review your risk assessment and emergency plan in light of what happened
No amount of planning can prevent every incident, but thorough preparation means your team responds quickly, calmly, and effectively when something does go wrong. That is the difference between an event with a good safety culture and one that simply hopes for the best.
