First aid cover at horse shows
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H&H finds out what level of first-aid cover you can expect at different equestrian events
British Eventing
• Dressage phase — a doctor or suitably qualified emergency medical technician (EMT) with portable resuscitation equipment and oxygen on-site.
• Showjumping — a doctor and ambulance.
• Cross-country — a doctor and a 4WD ambulance with resuscitation and emergency equipment and a paramedic on the course.
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British Dressage
• National and winter championships — a doctor or paramedic on-site during all competition time and 24hr professional first-aid cover is provided as a minimum outside these times.
• Affiliated competition — BD doesn’t stipulate the level of medical/first-aid cover a venue must have to run an affiliated competition; this is down to the individual venue to decide based on their own situation. Organisers must complete a BD risk assessment form.
British Showjumping
• Different show venues have their own health and safety arrangements.
• BS has no specific minimum provision — it says it depends on your risk assesment and what your insurance provider and local authority require. But it does suggest a first-aider is on-site at all competitions.
• Sliding scale of cover to be provided, from designated first-aider and first-aid point at rallies, to an ambulance and paramedic or doctor at national showjumping and
eventing championships.
Unaffiliated shows
• The Health and Safety Executive suggests a minimum of four first-aiders for equestrian events, but will depend on size of show and number of spectators.
• Club and open dressage and showjumping shows — first-aider.
• All cross-country events and horse trials — paramedic or doctor (preferably trauma-trained) and 4WD ambulance.
• Area qualifiers dressage and showjumping — first-aiders/paramedic and ambulance.
• British Show Pony Society — recommends all area shows have first-aid cover and take advice from a professional provider as to suitable level.
• 24-hour cover at championships — six paramedics with ambulance and fast-response buggy ambulance during the day and a paramedic and first-aider at night.
For the full feature on first-aid cover at equestrian events, see the current issue of Horse & Hound (24 June, ’10)
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.