IMMEDIATE ASSISTANTS is recognised as Australia’s leading provider of venue medical services, currently providing expertise, personnel, equipment and vehicles to the Sydney Cricket Ground, Aussie Stadium and Telstra Stadium.

IMMEDIATE ASSISTANTS has established the concept of Medical Risk Management, working in partnership with venue operators and event producers to ensure that the medical services are optimum for the number of patrons, venue characteristics, logistics and type of event.

Effective Medical Risk Management incorporates anticipating incidents and preparing appropriately for them rather than relying on experience at other, less populous or sophisticated venues and adopting an "it didn’t happen there so it can’t happen here" attitude.

We all need to know that we are providing appropriate facilities and services commensurate with the public’s expectations and those of our own management and shareholders, seeking to do what is morally and financially responsible as opposed to the "most basic we can get away with".

We are also at the cutting edge of services for events such as s the Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge, ASP Pro-Surfing World Tour, Mild Seven Outdoor Quest and premier aquatic events such as the Uncle Toby's' Super Series and Devondale Ironwoman.

Over 13 years of consulting we have seen promoters, event and venue operators’ concepts of medical care for patrons, competitors and performers evolve from a "she’ll be right" attitude to a more professional approach.

Australia has an adequate public hospital system, but our ambulance services struggle to keep pace with World’s Best Practice in terms of response times to serious illness or injury.

In the case of a heart attack, Advanced Life Support must be available within 4-6 minutes to save a life. Ambulances typically take 12-20 minutes.

Trauma, too, is a time-critical illness, and the Golden Rule is that emergency care must be brought to the injured person as soon as possible, without the inevitable delays involved in taking the casualty to a hospital. Defined in Korea and Vietnam, this war-time axiom is even more appropriately applied to venue and event medical management.

Volunteer First Aid services often offer Basic Life Support (BLS), which may be inadequate for saving a single life, and unable to deal with the number of complex medical problems associated with the larger crowds of people expected at major events and venues.

At the Royal Agricultural Show and mass events like the City to Surf Fun Run, professional ambulance services are required on site because of the inability of volunteers to consistently provide the number of personnel and the skills to deal with the problems that predictably occur.

Cost–effectiveness is a cornerstone to the IMMEDIATE ASSISTANTS Medical Risk Management approach, and this is not measured on a start-up cost or per-event basis, but on in-depth analysis as the venue matures and our services are called into play.

Ultimately, any perceived additional cost is proved more than worthwhile in hindsight, and venue operators soon recognise that by accepting these costs they too will ultimately be more successful by providing a higher standard of care to their clientele, and will be more profitable by effectively managing their medical risks.

One of our long-standing clients, the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, has documented over 30 life and limb-saving interventions in their last Annual Report, and estimate that their Legal Liability has been reduced by over $250,000, thanks to the superior level of medical services and documentation provide by IMMEDIATE ASSISTANTS.

Many 'first aiders' are not legally licensed nor trained to administer IV therapy or medication, including simple analgesics, nor perform lifesaving advanced airway maintenance techniques such as tracheal intubation or tracheotomy.

IMMEDIATE ASSISTANTS is at the forefront of venue medical management, developing sophisticated, computerised medical database systems for use in Australia and overseas which ultimately provide the full gamut of information that a venue may require at the time of an incident and into the future.

The "reassurance" of numerous First Aid uniforms at an event is little comfort when Advanced Life Support is required...the delay in calling an ambulance is all that is enhanced.

In reviewing the activities of IMMEDIATE ASSISTANTS at events and venues over the last 10 years or so, it is apparent from the large number of sophisticated medical and trauma cases, coupled with the long response times for Ambulance services (even when stationed on-site) that Medical Risks are being appropriately and professionally managed.