The Special Events Planning Toolkit was developed to make event planning more practical for fire service leaders. Large events can create many of the same planning problems regardless of venue or jurisdiction. Those problems usually involve fire and life safety, hospital coordination, EMS movement, communications, responder support, public messaging, and the final transition out of the event. None of that is unfamiliar. What is sometimes missing is a usable system that helps departments work through those issues early enough to make a difference.
The toolkit is not intended to replace local plans, code requirements, policy, or incident command practices. Its purpose is to help departments organize their thinking, assign responsibility, and address common planning gaps before they become operational problems. Each checklist is written to be practical, direct, and flexible enough to fit different event types and local conditions. The intent is to give chiefs, staff officers, and subject matter experts something they can actually use, rather than another document that is read once and set aside.
The toolkit includes nine checklists covering fire prevention, hospital integration and coordination, drone hazard response, EMS access and response and egress routes, unified command and communications, responder logistics and sustainment, demobilization, public messaging and alerting, and medical aid stations. Taken together, they are meant to give IAFC members a set of planning tools that can be adapted to sporting events, air shows, festivals, concerts, trade shows, and other large public gatherings. The goal is to help departments ask the right questions sooner, coordinate more effectively with partners, and go into the event in a better position than they would have otherwise.
- Messaging, Public Alerting, and Communications Resilience Checklist
This checklist is intended to help leaders and partner agencies plan how emergency information will be approved, delivered, backed up, and sustained when normal communications systems are strained or degraded.
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- Special Events Demobilization Checklist
A deliberate demobilization plan helps ensure that resources are released in the right order, essential coverage is maintained, temporary hazards are addressed, and the department does not create new problems while trying to shut the event down.
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- Special Events Drone Hazard Response Checklist
This checklist helps fire service leaders and partner agencies create a clear process to identify, report, evaluate, and manage drone-related hazards during major events.
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- Special Events EMS Access and Response/Egress Route Checklist
This checklist helps fire service leaders and partner agencies plan, protect, and manage EMS access and exit routes before and during the event.
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- Special Events Fire Prevention Checklist
This checklist helps Fire Chiefs and partner agencies identify, inspect, and manage those risks before the event begins.
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- Special Events Hospital Integration and Coordination Checklist
This checklist helps fire service leaders coordinate with hospitals in advance, confirm patient capacity and tracking, and ensure hospital integration works during a major incident.
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- Special Events Medical Aid Station Checklist
This checklist is intended to help Fire/EMS leaders and partner agencies build a medical aid station
that is operationally useful, clinically appropriate, and integrated into the event plan
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- Special Events Responder Logistics and Sustainment Checklist
This checklist helps agencies plan logistics and support to keep responders safe, functional, and ready throughout the event.
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- Special Events Unified Command, Communications and Interoperability Checklist
This checklist helps agencies build a clear command structure, improve information sharing, and confirm communications are ready before operations begin.
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