Emergency medical service--mass gathering action plans.

June 2004 30:3 A carefully thought out medical action plan must be created and then enacted for every mass gathering event. Each plan must adhere to all local, regional, and state regulations while ensuring an acceptable level of staffing. The EMS provider, its medical director, the event’s coordinator, and all other agencies with which they must interact in case of a mass casualty must endorse the plan. Each plan must be event specific, comprehensive, and proactive in nature. Each plan needs to address many components (see Table 1). A definition of mass gathering provided by the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) refers to ‘‘organized emergency health services provided for spectators and participants at events in which at least 1000 persons are gathered at a specific location for a defined period of time.’’ The definition of mass gatherings and an exact number of people gathered may vary throughout the United States. This column is intended to deal with events most emergency medical providers would think of as being of overwhelming proportions, such as the Olympics, National Football League Super Bowls, College National Championships, the Texas State Fair, and New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. Each of these types of events attracts a gathering of thousands of people in various locales throughout a city during a period of days. Fortunately, such events are usually scheduled years in advance, giving EMS professionals time to plan, practice, and meet with other entities that will be involved. Such other entities now include not only local and state police, fire departments, and health departments, but also national response authorities. Since September 11,