A new service specifically designed to enhance the safety of large-scale events will be launching at this year’s Showman’s Show.
EventWatch works in collaboration with Event Control Rooms to provide rapid aerial visibility to emerging incidents. Using the latest drone technology and skilled, fully trained RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial System) operators, they can deploy in just a minute and reach unmonitored areas across the whole of an event site swiftly to provide live video feeds for real time communication.
Director, Chris Hurdle explains, “I’ve spent many years working in, and for, the events sector and so understand just how vital it is to get quick, detailed information on safety or security concerns when staging large events. Fixed CCTV cameras can only do so much to provide visibility to an Event Control Room and so are usually focused on anticipated high traffic or high risk areas. This leaves large areas unseen which makes it more difficult to understand the response required to tackle potential safety issues.”
“There are plenty of providers who offer drone operated aerial photography but I do not know of any specialist safety-centric RPAS services for the events industry. As we are a strictly responsive service, we can react quickly to directives from the Event Control Room to provide ‘eyes in the sky’. Feedback from the sector has been extremely positive with organisers keen to see what benefits it can bring to enhance their safety response.”
RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, the world’s largest flower festival, attracts 120,000+ visitors each year so safety and security are paramount. The Royal Horticultural Society called on EventWatch for their 2024 show and saw first-hand how effective this addition was to their operations.
David Edwards, Head of Shows Operations said, “EventWatch augmented our control room facilities at the 2024 RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, safely providing high quality live images directly onto our screens. The drones enabled us to see areas previously invisible to us, including car parks and access routes up to a mile away from the show site.
Chris and Kevin deployed on request, helping the control room to monitor crowd movements in congested areas, and in one case located a casualty and guided the medical response team to the right place, saving vital minutes. The quality of the images was astounding. We hope to work with them at our shows in 2025 and beyond.”
In addition to live video feeds, the drones are equipped with 200 x zoom lenses, wide angle lenses and thermal imaging cameras for night visibility. Safety features including proximity sensors and emergency landing protocols along with geofenced pre-flight safety corridors ensure operations are carried out in a safe and unobtrusive manner.
There are many common issues EventWatch can support as part of its service offering. These include the enhancement of crowd safety activities and the provision of live feeds to Control Rooms so they can deploy resources. In particular, it can be used to help maintain perimeter security, provide visual reference to un-monitored areas such as car parks, provide fire overwatch support and investigate reports of unauthorised drone usage. The ability to fly at night using thermal imaging and automatic tracking is also a significant benefit to organisers.
Chris concludes, “EventWatch is ideal for large-scale events and as part of our CAA approved Operations Manual, we work closely with organisers to create site-specific operational plans that are fully integrated with the site planning of an event. With at least two drone pilots in attendance during operating hours, we’re able to give organisers an additional tool to maintain visitor safety and enhance event security.”
Visit EventWatch in the Exhibition Hall, Stand 32 where they’ll be showcasing their aerial location safety services or visit https://www.eventwatch.co.uk/ for more information.