Executive Summary
Coast Medic Ambulance Ltd delivered a comprehensive, high-acuity medical cover solution for the Great Estate Festival at Scorrier House. The deployment was designed to manage the risks associated with a large, multi-day outdoor festival held on private estate grounds with variable terrain, high crowd density, alcohol presence, and extended operating hours. The service combined multiple ambulances capable of hospital conveyance, specialist 4×4 ambulance assets, rapid response vehicles, and a fully functioning on-site Medical Treatment Centre. During the event, Coast Medic Ambulance was required to identify, stabilise, and transfer a number of time-critical patients to hospital, demonstrating effective clinical decision-making and escalation under pressure.
vent Context and Risk Profile
The Great Estate Festival is a large-scale cultural event encompassing music, arts, and entertainment across a wide estate footprint. Key clinical and operational risks included:
- Large crowds and prolonged attendance, increasing the likelihood of medical emergencies
- Alcohol and substance-related presentations
- Environmental and terrain challenges, including uneven ground and limited hardstanding
- Trauma risks from slips, trips, falls, and crowd movement
- Time-critical medical emergencies requiring immediate intervention and rapid conveyance
- Extended response distances between stages, camps, and estate features
The medical solution required resilience, mobility, and the ability to deliver definitive pre-hospital care while maintaining rapid access to acute hospital pathways.
Objectives
- Provide a robust on-site medical infrastructure capable of managing high patient volumes.
- Ensure rapid access and extraction across mixed and uneven estate terrain.
- Maintain immediate ambulance conveyance capability for serious and life-threatening incidents.
- Reduce avoidable pressure on local NHS services through effective on-site treatment and triage.
- Deliver care under strong clinical governance, consistent with CQC standards.
Coast Medic Ambulance Solution
1) Medical Treatment Centre (MTC)
A centrally located Medical Treatment Centre was established to act as the clinical hub for the festival. The MTC provided:
- Structured triage and clinical assessment
- Treatment of minor to moderate injuries and illnesses
- Observation and monitoring of patients requiring short-term clinical oversight
- Clear decision-making on onward care, including discharge with safety-netting or escalation to ambulance transfer
This model enabled the safe management of a significant proportion of presentations on site.
2) Conveying Ambulances
Multiple fully equipped ambulances were deployed with the explicit capability to convey patients to hospital. These resources ensured:
- Immediate availability for time-critical emergencies
- Monitored transfer under advanced clinical care
- Seamless integration into local emergency pathways when escalation was required
During the event, several patients were identified as requiring urgent hospital care and were rapidly stabilised and transferred, demonstrating the importance of on-site conveyance capacity.
3) 4×4 Ambulance Capability
Given the estate setting and mixed terrain, specialist 4×4 ambulances were deployed to:
- Access areas unsuitable for standard vehicles
- Rapidly extract patients from remote or crowded parts of the site
- Maintain operational continuity regardless of ground conditions or weather
This capability proved critical in maintaining response times across the festival footprint.
4) Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs)
Rapid response vehicles were positioned to provide:
- Fast initial clinical assessment anywhere on site
- Early intervention and stabilisation
- Efficient triage decisions directing patients to the MTC or ambulance conveyance as appropriate
Clinical Governance and Command
As a CQC-regulated provider, Coast Medic Ambulance operated under established governance and command arrangements, including:
- Clear clinical leadership and escalation protocols
- Patient documentation and incident reporting
- Safeguarding awareness in a high-risk, alcohol-present environment
- Infection prevention and control measures appropriate to mass-gathering care
- Close liaison with event control and organisers throughout the festival
Post-event debriefs captured learning to inform continuous improvement for future large-scale deployments.
Outcomes and Impact
- Effective management of high patient volumes through on-site treatment and triage
- Rapid identification and transfer of time-critical patients to hospital, supporting positive clinical outcomes
- Maintained emergency readiness throughout the event despite complex terrain and crowd dynamics
- Reduced reliance on statutory ambulance services, protecting local NHS capacity
Conclusion
The Great Estate Festival at Scorrier House highlighted Coast Medic Ambulance’s ability to deliver resilient, high-acuity event medical cover in a challenging estate environment. The combination of multiple conveying ambulances, 4×4 capability, rapid response assets, and a Medical Treatment Centre ensured safe, responsive care for festival-goers while enabling swift escalation for time-critical emergencies. This deployment exemplifies Coast Medic Ambulance’s capacity to support complex festivals with clinically governed, end-to-end medical solutions.
