The rise in drive in movie events across the UK is a pleasing start to the nation’s recovery from the CoVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP urged Brits to ‘enjoy summer safely’ (10 Downing Street, 03 July 2020), so it’s no surprise that many event promoters are seeking to provide outdoor entertainment in socially distanced ways.
But drive in movie events are no different to other types of outdoor cinema. They require careful planning, consultation & organisation be successful, and more importantly, legal.
ProMed has years of experience in providing healthcare excellence to a variety of events using our model of high-quality clinical and operational support. Our objectives are to provide a safe, effective & resilient service, minimising the impact of the event on the local NHS.
Call us on 03333 445442 or email enquiries@promed999.co.uk to arrange your cover today!
Drive in movie organisers should still ensure that appropriate medical, ambulance & welfare provision is available to all those attending or involved in delivering the movie show. They should minimise the effects of the event on the statutory healthcare services, by arranging for high quality care to be provided on site. This guidance is laid out in The Purple Guide s5.6.
Levels of first aid cover
From the outset, we’ll discuss the specifics of your outdoor cinema show. Our team will look at the size & profile of each film’s audience, what hazards may be present on site, your location in relation to NHS referral facilities and other factors which impact on the type of first aid provision needed. ProMed will summarise this full & detailed understanding of the event into a cover proposal document. This allows you to understand the basis of our risk & needs assessment. We’ll also describe how we have the skills, experience & resources necessary to provide the first aid cover at your drive-in event. Our experience allows us to make sound judgements of clinical risk. We’ll work with you to best support the needs of your event.
Most of our casual bank staff are trained to QA Level 3 First Response Emergency Care (First Responders). Many hold FREC L4 qualifications (Emergency Medical Technicians) or higher. We also have doctors, nurses & paramedics available for work, should the nature of your outdoor event require their specialist skills.
Outdoor cinemas or drive in movies are often classed as small events, with fewer than 2,000 attendees (400-1,000 cars). Most organisers don’t expect significant problems, especially as it’s hard to be violent or cause disorder and remain socially distant. A lot of drive-in events restrict the alcohol on site, especially as designated drivers need to remain sober!
This means that a first responder-led service, with a crew of 2-4 staff is often suitable. For larger events, we’d provide a dedidcated manager to liaise between agencies and oversee the delivery of our services. If the films being shown are likely to cause rowdy behaviour, or attract a more energetic audience, we’re able to provide healthcare professionals, too.
First aid post at your outdoor cinema
ProMed has gazebo-like structures where we can base our provision on site. However, we do need a 240v power supply, mainly for lighting at night. If you’d rather supply the structure (a portacabin or marquee), that’s fine, too.
You can locate the first aid post anywhere within the public realm of your site. It needs to be accessible on a hardstanding (for an ambulance). The location must be visible to customers, and we’ll provide a roll-up banner to help with that.
Rest assured, for multi-day events, we’ll take care the first aid post. We have trained our staff to keep all equipment & surfaces clean. ProMed supplies all necessary equipment including an automated external defibrillator (AED). Typically, we also provide medical gases, a folding stretcher and adjuncts to basic life support.
Drive in movie meetings
In the ‘new normal’ our project managers are comfortable meeting by Zoom or similar technologies. We’re happy to have inter-agency briefings or participate in table top exercises remotely to help facilitate the pre-event planning.
You can email enquiries@promed999.co.uk or call 03333 445442 to discuss your outdoor event requirments. We’re happy to provide no-obligation quotations for one location or multiple locations across the UK.
Outdoor cinema locations
ProMed staff have worked across the UK in many venues. Whilst we can’t claim to have worked on every outdoor site… There’s a very strong chance we’ve delivered event medical cover within 50 miles of one!
We’re able to support drive in shows in:
- Bath
- Birmingham
- Bolton
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Cambridge
- Cardiff
- Carlisle
- Cheltenham
- Chichester
- Darlington
- Derby
- Edinburgh
- Exter
- Glasgow
- Gloucester
- Harrogate
- Lancaster
- Leeds
- Lincoln
- London
- Manchester
- Milton Keynes
- Newcastle
- Newmarket
- Northampton
- Nottingham
- Peterborough
- Plymouth
- Portsmouth
- Preston
- Stevenage
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Southampton
- Teesside
- Warwick
- Wetherby
- Yeovil
- York
Our project management team & medical co-ordinators have previously worked with North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust, North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust & South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. That’s 50% of the UK’s NHS ambulance services! We know their specific requirements, including knowing what forms to fill out. Our medical co-ordinators will liaise with their events & resilience team in a professional manner on your behalf.