EMS coverage for Fairs

[firemoose827 324]

Hey everyone. Just a quick question for you all. We have a County Fairgrounds called the "Sunshine Fair" here in Cobleskill. As part of their procedures and NYS law they are required to have EMS coverage during the fair, etc. etc., you guys know these fine details.

For the past 5-8 years now, (maybe longer) they have had a paid ambulance provide coverage for them but they were charging the fair association 1/3 of their profits!!

So they came to us here in Cobleskill Rescue last minute two years ago to ask for our help. We quickly organized a county wide assistance plan where each squad in our county was asked to send up to 4 EMT's to help out with scheduling. We had to keep at least one EMT and one driver with an ambulance on site the entire time the fair was open, 8a-12midnight, Tues-Sunday.

We have managed to do this for the past 2 years with a large amount of help from the county. Our 2 neighboring squads have even brought their rigs to the fair during demo derbys and rodeo's, which are required to have their own SEPARATE ambulance , and covered these events with their crews. The county EMS Coordinators even helped out by covering shifts at the first aid booth.

Does anyone else do anything like this? At fairs, our other large annual events in their districts? Just curious to see if you do, and what you have done to answer the call for help to see if there is anything we can do differently.

Amazingly we have kept at least 8 EMTs at the fair all day everyday without a hitch, and averaged 2-3 transports to the ER a day. On the last day of the fair we usually have a BBQ for all who have helped out, the fair allows the EMS people to park for free, and when youre done with your shift you can walk around with your family. Its great, and its fun.

Stay Safe out there.

[calhobs 110]

I think its a great idea, as long as resurces are not spread thin at home. We do the samething for Rockefeller's during the spring and summer. They usually make a small donation and provide one or two sodas and a sandwhich for the crew.

[helicopper 1,050]

They usually make a small donation and provide one or two sodas and a sandwhich for the crew.

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Hey, wait a minute! Doesn't that make you guys a PAID COMMERCIAL SERVICE?!?!?!

Disclaimer - for those of you unfamiliar with the concept, this is only a JOKE and not intended to start any sort of paid/unpaid or volunteer/career exchange.

[STAT213 332]

So you guys are doing this all for free? To me, you are being taken advantage of. I bet the fair isn't losing money, and I bet they have to pay for PD coverage. Why should EMS be any different?

I would at minimum begin asking for stipends to cover the crews and wear and tear on your rigs. It will begin to wear on your members over time; the first year was probably fun, but it will wear off.

[helicopper 1,050]

So you guys are doing this all for free?  To me, you are being taken advantage of.  I bet the fair isn't losing money, and I bet they have to pay for PD coverage.  Why should EMS be any different? 

I would at minimum begin asking for stipends to cover the crews and wear and tear on your rigs.  It will begin to wear on your members over time; the first year was probably fun,  but it will wear off.

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What you said!!!

[Guest]

I agree, i think a nominal fee should be paid. If there are no issues with manpower (IE: getting people to cover shifts at this standby) then the costs should cover any non-transport treatment (equipment) you do, fuel and maintenance fees. It would also be nice for the fair to throw you guys a nice donation as well - that would be the right thing to do in my mind.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I have to agree with the last few posts as well. Everything is always great and they are aaaalways so appreciative until you have problems with maintaining coverage, or your resources at the fair run thin and there isn't anyone available for another injury/illness/problem and certainly until you tell them you can't do it anymore.

On a side note I always try to stress to even organizers to ensure that they have more then just a bls bus sitting on site. You should obviously have transport capability, but you also need to ensure there are providers on site to assist with anything should another injury/illnes/problem occur when the ambulance transports. I have dealt with events where they were spread out across 3 to 4 areas of a city and we at that point utilized mutual aid. It worked out fairly well, with the exception that I could not convince the "power to be" that we needed one central event command post and to handle all communication within the ems agencies and across the other agencies, PD, fire, DPW etc. I also wanted to be able to have the "IC" be able to stage resources as needed based on event population when units had to be used for transport. For the most part it went fairly well, but I still feel it could have been better to take the radio traffic out of 60 control's hands for on site incidents, and when several units had to transport on the same side of the city, to have the ability to communicate and relocate units at the other events as needed.

Then again, this also parallels to any significant event where having a EOC to assist with logistics is important. Why should PD have to transmit to their dispatcher, to call 60 control for them to call on a radio to units standing line of sight from them from another agency?

Part of the problem in my experience of emergency management is agency heads that don't understand the concept (more...won't) think that they tell what to do, or they have to sit in there and so on. The black out was a prime example where this would have worked.

[firemoose827 324]

WOW, I didnt think Id get so much response.

First, I forgot to mention that they do give us a donation, and we have 2 vendors at the fair who give us one free meal for each 6 hour block you work. Plus the squad buys gatorade, chips, burgers, and dogs that we grill all week behind the first aid booth. And one EMT from a squad in the county works for Boars Head meats, so he gets us coldcuts, dogs, burgers, and even roasts sometimes for cheap or free.

We always have atleast one emt and one driver on site with one ambulance for the fair . Our squad has two rigs, one is dedicated to the fair one is village. For that week we have two crews sign up; one for the fair and one for the village. When the fair crew transports, the village crew is called to the fair and a mutual aid rig is on stand-by for the village. Cobleskill Regional Hospital is 2 minutes from the fairgrounds so turnaround is fast. All communications are done with the EMT who has to man the first aid booth/radio at all times and the ambulance reaches them via 2 way radio. The EMT at the booth than calls dispatch via landline to inform of the transport and keeps a log of times and call info. The log is turned into the fair and the county at the end. During the week both of the County EMS Coordinators come and go and hang out in the "air conditioned" first aid booth so there is always at least one medic on the grounds.

Sorry I forgot about this info, I didnt want to bore all of you with details. But that is how the fair is run. Thanks for your input.

[calhobs 110]

So you guys are doing this all for free?  To me, you are being taken advantage of.  I bet the fair isn't losing money, and I bet they have to pay for PD coverage.  Why should EMS be any different? 

I would at minimum begin asking for stipends to cover the crews and wear and tear on your rigs.  It will begin to wear on your members over time; the first year was probably fun,  but it will wear off.

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We do its called a donation, and our crew does get feed. As far a wearing on memebers this is only a few Saturdays a year, so not much of a toll is taken, we avg maybe 1 call a year from it not much wear and tear on the rigs, So if Rocky wants to donate each time we cover we will keep going. I dont think the crew should get paid its a volunter service, if thats the case we should get paid for doing fire stand bys which puts more wear and tear on the crews and on a rig then a stand by at a fair for an event.

[calhobs 110]

Hey, wait a minute!  Doesn't that make you guys a PAID COMMERCIAL SERVICE?!?!?!     

Disclaimer - for those of you unfamiliar with the concept, this is only a JOKE and not intended to start any sort of paid/unpaid or volunteer/career exchange. 

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If it was coffee and donuts it would make us cops

Edited May 21, 2007 by calhobs

[WAS967 97]

RPS has provided coverage for the Ren Fair in Tuxedo for years. Not sure if they have a BUS on site (maybe TVAC does) but they do have a QRU to get to places on site quickly. That must be a nice detail. Wonder if they get free Mead?