Advocacy – Public Safety and Legislation
Not every event organizer plans for or fully appreciates the importance of a first aid, medical, and/or safety plan for their event. Some believe that just “dialing 911” is an adequate plan. They fail to recognize the moral and legal responsibility that they take on when they create an event that draws a crowd. Event permits are granted municipally, and as such, local police and fire are usually involved in the permit granting process. Not so with our provincial ambulance service. Medical responses can range from a few volunteer first aiders with a box of bandaids to miniature M.A.S.H. tents with full advanced life support capabilities.
What is the minimum standard to keep crowds safe? Does it depend on the crowd? The event? The geography? The weather? The risk of terrorist events at high profile events?
We hope that some of our research will help to inform permit-granting agencies on what can be expected at different types of events, and that minimum standards can be implemented in the interest of public safety.
Government Support
We met in the fall of 2009 with four ministries from the provincial government. We received a letter of support regarding these initiatives and a commitment to meet again to discuss findings and explore solutions around MGM events in the province.