You’ve done everything right. You’ve hired an event paramedic for your event. They’ve got the uniform, the qualifications, the experience. You can tick that box on your risk assessment with confidence, right?
Not so fast.
Here’s a question that might keep you awake tonight: What happens if someone at your event has a severe asthma attack or a seizure? Can your event paramedic actually treat them?
The uncomfortable truth is: probably not.
The Event Paramedic Medication Problem Nobody Talks About
Let’s paint a picture. It’s Saturday afternoon at your community festival. A spectator, a young mum watching her kids on the bouncy castle, suddenly can’t breathe. She’s used her inhaler, but it’s not working. She’s getting worse. Fast.
Your event paramedic rushes over, assesses the situation, and reaches for… nothing.
Because they can’t.
Salbutamol delivered via a nebuliser is the gold-standard treatment for a severe asthma attack. It can be life-saving. Your event paramedic knows exactly what to do, they’ve done it hundreds of times in their NHS career.
But here’s the problem: they don’t have any salbutamol with them.
“But they’re a event paramedic!” I hear you say. “Why wouldn’t they have it?”
Because they can’t buy it.
The Purchasing Problem
Here’s something most event organisers have no idea about: even though an event paramedic is legally allowed to administer salbutamol in an emergency (it’s a Schedule 19 medication under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012), they cannot purchase it without a doctor or prescriber’s sign-off.
And here’s where it gets even murkier: even if your self-employed paramedic finds a friendly GP willing to prescribe salbutamol to them, that prescription is in their name, not the patient’s. Using medication prescribed to one person to treat another person? That’s a legal and ethical minefield.
The same problem applies to GTN spray (glyceryl trinitrate) for chest pain—a paramedic can administer it under Schedule 19, but they can’t purchase it without a prescription. And if it’s prescribed to them personally, can they legally give it to your event attendee having a heart attack?
Unless your self-employed paramedic has a friendly GP willing to prescribe it to them personally (ethically questionable at best), or they’re working under a proper Patient Group Direction within a CQC-registered organisation (the legal way), they simply won’t have it.
And it gets worse. For a severe asthma attack, best clinical practice is to administer ipratropium bromide alongside salbutamol, studies show this combination significantly improves outcomes in acute severe asthma. But ipratropium bromide requires a Patient Group Direction (PGD) to administer. Even if your self-employed paramedic somehow got hold of it, they cannot legally give it without working under a PGD.
Other critical emergency medications that require PGDs include:
- Ondansetron for severe nausea and vomiting
- Co-amoxiclav for infections requiring antibiotic treatment
- Tranexamic Acid (TXA) for life-threatening bleeds
- Diazepam (or buccal midazolam) for prolonged seizures
- Ipratropium Bromide for respiratory emergencies
And even for medications where paramedics have exemptions under Schedule 17 & 19 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (like adrenaline and morphine), there’s still the purchasing problem—they can administer them in an emergency, but they can’t buy them without proper authorisation.
Your paramedic might be trained to use them. They might be legally allowed to administer some of them in an emergency. But if they can’t purchase them in the first place, or if purchasing them creates legal and ethical problems, they won’t have them at your event.
Welcome to the World of PGDs
This is where Patient Group Directions (PGDs) come in.
PGDs are the legal framework that allows healthcare professionals to supply and administer prescription-only medicines to patients without an individual prescription. They solve the purchasing problem and create a proper clinical governance structure around medication use.
Here’s the crucial bit: PGDs must be held by an organisation, not an individual.
According to NHS England guidance, to use PGDs you must be:
- A CQC-registered ambulance service or private provider
- Registered specifically for ‘treatment of disease, disorder or injury’ (not just transportation)
A self-employed event paramedic, no matter how qualified or experienced, working outside of a CQC-registered organisation, cannot legally operate under PGDs.
Which means they can’t purchase the medications legally and safely. Which means they won’t have them at your event.
The Legal Reality: Why “Getting a Prescription” Doesn’t Work
What This Means for Your Event Paramedic
Some people reading this might think: “Well, can’t the paramedic just get their GP to prescribe these medications to them?”
No. And here’s exactly why that’s illegal.
The Legal Mechanics (Human Medicines Regulations 2012)
Under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012:
A prescription may only be issued for a named individual for the treatment of that individual’s own medical condition.
Once dispensed, those medicines are legally that person’s property and may only be used for their personal therapeutic use, not for onward supply or administration to another person.
So if a GP (or any other independent prescriber) writes a private prescription for a paramedic, even if the intention is professional use, the pharmacy dispenses it for the paramedic’s personal treatment, not as stock for patient care.
Using or even carrying it “for patient care” would constitute unlawful possession and unauthorised supply of a prescription-only medicine.
Why This Matters: The Professional Consequences
If a GP knowingly prescribes a prescription-only medicine (POM) to another clinician for stock purposes, they would breach:
- Regulation 214 HMR 2012 (unlawful supply), and
- GMC Good Medical Practice paragraphs 84–85 (“You must not prescribe for anyone else unless you have adequately assessed them”)
And the paramedic would breach:
- Regulation 220 HMR 2012 (“No person shall sell, supply or administer a medicinal product otherwise than in accordance with a prescription or exemption”), and
- HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (Standard 13) (“You must act within the limits of your knowledge, skills and legal authority”)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency), and the HCPC all treat this as unlawful stockholding.
Professional Interpretation (HCPC & MHRA)
Both regulators have made it crystal clear in their guidance:
Medicines obtained on a personal prescription may not be used for treating patients. They are for the named individual’s own therapeutic use only.
This isn’t a grey area. This isn’t open to interpretation. This is black and white.
Real-World Enforcement
This isn’t theoretical. Regulators have taken action:
- HCPC vs [Paramedic, 2019]: Suspended for using self-prescribed diazepam “for patient anxiety”
- GPhC / MHRA cases: Pharmacists disciplined for dispensing “stock” to clinicians on personal prescriptions
The Bottom Line for Event Organisers
🔴 It would be unlawful and professionally indefensible for a self-employed paramedic to use medicines prescribed “to themselves” for patient treatment.
Even if a GP issues the prescription in good faith, both parties would breach medicines legislation and professional standards.
This means:
- The GP could face GMC sanctions
- The paramedic could face HCPC sanctions (including suspension or removal from the register)
- Both could face criminal prosecution under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- Any insurance would likely be invalidated
- You, as the event organiser, could be implicated in facilitating unlawful medicine supply
What This Means for Your Event
When you book a self-employed paramedic who isn’t working under a CQC-registered organisation with proper PGDs, one of three things is happening:
- They don’t have these medications at all (most common)
- They’re obtaining them illegally (through personal prescriptions or other means)
- They’re carrying leftover NHS stock (also illegal)
None of these scenarios are acceptable for your event.
And if something goes wrong—if they administer medication they shouldn’t have, or if they don’t have medication they should have—where does that leave you?
What Your Event Paramedic Can’t Do: Real Scenarios
Let’s go back to our real-world scenarios:
Scenario 1: The Severe Asthma Attack
Your spectator is struggling to breathe. She’s used her own inhaler multiple times, it’s not working. She needs nebulised salbutamol urgently. Your self-employed paramedic knows this. But they don’t have any salbutamol because they couldn’t buy it legally.
Your spectator is struggling to breathe. She’s used her own inhaler multiple times, it’s not working. She needs nebulised salbutamol urgently. Your self-employed paramedic knows this. But they don’t have any salbutamol because they couldn’t buy it legally.
Even worse: for a severe asthma attack like this, best practice is to administer ipratropium bromide alongside the salbutamol, it significantly improves outcomes and can reduce hospital admissions. But ipratropium bromide requires a PGD to administer. Your paramedic can’t legally give it even if they somehow had access to it.
So you wait for the NHS ambulance. Her condition deteriorates. Every minute counts.
Scenario 2: The Prolonged Seizure
A competitor at your sports event has a seizure. It’s been going for three minutes now, well beyond the point where it should have stopped naturally. NICE guidelines are clear: seizures lasting more than five minutes need emergency medication. They need buccal midazolam or rectal diazepam to stop the seizure. Your paramedic has done this dozens of times before. But they don’t have the medication because they need a PGD to access it. The seizure continues. Brain damage becomes a real risk. You wait.
A competitor at your sports event has a seizure. It’s been going for three minutes now, well beyond the point where it should have stopped naturally. NICE guidelines are clear: seizures lasting more than five minutes need emergency medication. They need buccal midazolam or rectal diazepam to stop the seizure. Your paramedic has done this dozens of times before. But they don’t have the medication because they need a PGD to access it. The seizure continues. Brain damage becomes a real risk. You wait.
Scenario 3: The Cardiac Chest Pain
Someone at your event is experiencing severe chest pain. Classic cardiac symptoms. They need GTN spray immediately. Your paramedic is trained to administer it, it’s covered under Schedule 19. But they don’t have any because they couldn’t legally purchase it without a prescription in their own name (which creates that legal grey area we talked about). You wait. Time is muscle. Every minute without treatment means more heart damage.
Someone at your event is experiencing severe chest pain. Classic cardiac symptoms. They need GTN spray immediately. Your paramedic is trained to administer it, it’s covered under Schedule 19. But they don’t have any because they couldn’t legally purchase it without a prescription in their own name (which creates that legal grey area we talked about). You wait. Time is muscle. Every minute without treatment means more heart damage.
Scenario 4: The Major Bleed
A competitor at your equestrian event has a serious fall. There’s significant bleeding. Tranexamic Acid (TXA) can reduce mortality in major trauma by up to 30% when given early. Your paramedic knows this. But TXA requires a PGD. They don’t have it. You wait.
A competitor at your equestrian event has a serious fall. There’s significant bleeding. Tranexamic Acid (TXA) can reduce mortality in major trauma by up to 30% when given early. Your paramedic knows this. But TXA requires a PGD. They don’t have it. You wait.
These aren’t rare, exotic emergencies. These are common medical situations that happen at events up and down the country every single weekend.
“But Surely They’d Have Something?”
Some self-employed event paramedic’s work around this by:
- Begging a friendly doctor to prescribe medications to them personally (now you know why this is illegal)
- Carrying leftover medications from previous NHS shifts (definitely not legal)
- Relying entirely on patients’ own prescribed medications
- Simply not carrying these medications at all and hoping nothing happens
None of these are acceptable solutions for a professional medical service at your event.
The Clinical Governance Question
PGDs aren’t just about purchasing medications. They’re part of something much bigger: clinical governance.
The Care Quality Commission defines clinical governance as “a framework through which organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care.”
A CQC-registered organisation with proper PGDs also has:
- Robust prescribing protocols – When, how, and why medications are used
- Clinical oversight – Senior clinicians reviewing practice and incidents
- Audit trails – Every medication administered is tracked and reviewed
- Proper supply chains – Medications sourced legally, stored correctly (including temperature control), and managed safely
- Accountability – Clear lines of responsibility and professional standards
- Insurance – Proper cover for medication administration and supply
- Stock management – Ensuring medications are in date, stored at correct temperatures, and available when needed
- Legal compliance – Medications purchased and supplied legally, not through questionable workarounds
When you book a self-employed paramedic directly, you get none of this. And if something goes wrong, where does that leave you as the event organiser?
Every Event Is at Risk
“But we’re just a small community event,” you might be thinking. “We’re not a high-risk motorsport or equestrian competition.”
That’s exactly the point.
According to Asthma + Lung UK, 5.4 million people in the UK are currently receiving treatment for asthma. That’s roughly 1 in 12 people. Epilepsy Action reports that 1 in 100 people in the UK has epilepsy. Heart disease remains the UK’s biggest killer.
Every event, regardless of size or type, has the potential for a medical emergency that requires more than basic first aid.
The question is: when that emergency happens, can your event paramedic actually provide the treatment needed?
High-Risk Events Need Even More
If you’re running high-risk events, equestrian, motorsport, autograss, mountain biking, extreme sports, this matters even more.
These aren’t just asthma attacks. These are events where major trauma is a realistic possibility. Where you might need:
- Tranexamic Acid for life-threatening bleeds
- Ketamine for pain relief and sedation
- Advanced airway management medications
- Cardiac arrest drugs
A self-employed event paramedic without PGDs and CQC backing won’t have access to any of this.
You wouldn’t hire a driver without a licence to transport your equipment. Why would you hire medical cover that can’t legally access the medications your participants might need?
The Cost of Proper Clinical Governance
“This sounds expensive,” you’re thinking.
You’re right. It is.
Developing and maintaining PGDs costs money. CQC registration costs money. Clinical governance systems cost money. Proper medication supply chains cost money. Insurance costs money. Legal compliance costs money.
This is why CQC-registered providers like Marches Ambulance Service charge more than someone you find on a Facebook group offering “event paramedic cover” for £25 an hour.
But here’s the real question: What’s the cost of NOT having it?
What’s the cost when someone has a life-threatening asthma attack at your event and your medical provider literally doesn’t have the medication that could save their life?
What’s the cost when someone has a heart attack and your paramedic can’t administer GTN because they couldn’t legally purchase it?
What’s the cost when a seizure continues for 25 minutes whilst waiting for the ambulance, because your paramedic doesn’t have access to diazepam?
What’s the cost to your reputation, your insurance, your legal liability, and most importantly, to the person who needed help?
The Bottom Line
Having a paramedic at your event is not the same as having proper event medical cover.
A paramedic working independently, outside of a CQC-registered organisation, probably cannot legally purchase the medications that could save someone’s life at your event.
Even if they’re trained to use them. Even if they’re legally allowed to administer some of them in an emergency.
If they can’t buy it legally, they won’t have it. And if they don’t have it, they can’t use it. And if they try to work around it with questionable prescriptions in their own name, you’re both in a legal grey area you don’t want to be in.
That’s not a criticism of individual paramedics, many are excellent clinicians doing their best within the constraints they’re working under. But it IS a criticism of a system that allows event organisers to think they’re getting comprehensive medical cover when they’re actually getting something far less.
You deserve to know what you’re paying for. More importantly, the people at your event deserve medical cover that can actually deliver when it matters most.
At Marches Ambulance Service, we’re CQC-registered for treatment of disease, disorder, and injury. We operate under comprehensive PGDs. Our paramedics have legal access to salbutamol, ipratropium bromide, GTN spray, diazepam, TXA, ondansetron, and a range of other critical medications. We have proper supply chains, robust clinical governance systems, and full insurance.
No subcontractors. No surprises. No gaps in care when someone needs us most.
Is your current provider able to say the same?
Want to know more about what proper event medical cover looks like? Download our free guide: “The Event Organiser’s Guide to Medical Cover” or get in touch: hello@marchesambulance.co.uk