Special events ranging from sporting/ athletic events and competitions to entertainment shows, concerts, festivals and large indoor and outdoor gatherings may benefit from having a dedicated on-site medical team ready to provide assistance. For events like these, URI EMS provides standby EMTs and First Responders to assist in providing medical attention on site at the event venue.

Small Indoor Events

For smaller indoor events we usually provide 1 or 2 EMTs/First Responders to stand by with basic first aid equipment/basic EMS equipment and an AED. Depending on the activity, this usually suffices to provide medical support. Typical events in this category include entertainers such as stand-up comics, children’s entertainment shows and smaller athletic/intramural events.

Large Outdoor Events

URI EMS utilizes specialized equipment and teams to provide services ranging from basic First Aid to large multi-site, multi-venue events with full Incident Command structure, multiple ambulances, physicians, nurses and specialized response teams on sites.

We sometimes utilize bicycle first response teams for large outdoor functions. Also, through a special generous arrangement with Yawgoo Valley Search and Rescue, we can utilize their resources, such as John Deere Gators converted to transport patients from otherwise-inaccessible areas such as athletic fields, etc and specialized trailers that can be used to host triage, treatment and command functions. Other generous arrangements with services such asAlert Ambulance Service, Charlestown Ambulance-Rescue Service, among others also provide us access to additional resources.

Some large events require specialized dispatching and coordination services. Using the federal standards for the National Incident Management System and its Incident Command System component, we are able to seamlessly coordinate treatment of several hundred patients in short periods of time. Our department trains on this system regularly and is able to maintain proficiency by using these standards on a regular basis. Using state-of-the-art digital and analog repeater-based radio equipment and other technology, we are able to meet the communications needs of large events. For more information, see our Communicationspage.

Special Services

If you are looking for a specialized service and don’t see details here, please ask. If we can’t provide it, chances are we know someone who can! We have provided unique services from time to time. For example, at the Tall Ships event, along with Yawgoo Valley Search and Rescue, we provided an EMT to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Police to operate with one of their teams on a boat.

Request Our Services

Throughout the year, we provide these special event services for hundreds of events, including many at the Ryan Center and Boss Arena. We also occasionally provide these services to events off campus if resources permit. As available, we provide many event services for charity organizations at little to no cost.

If you are hosting a special event and would like to request our services, please fill out a request form under the Documents/Forms section.