Planning Campus Events

Overview

The GW Emergency Medical Response Group (EMeRG) is the primary collegiate emergency medical services (EMS) on the GW Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses. EMeRG is a Basic Life Support (BLS) agency. Additional Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) EMS agencies licensed by the District Department of Health can also provide EMS services.

• Basic Life Support (BLS): Provides fundamental prehospital care such as CPR, AED use, basic airway management, and non‑invasive interventions.
• Advanced Life Support (ALS): Adds advanced skills including cardiac monitoring, IV/IO access, medication administration, and advanced airway procedures.

Requirements

GW recommends medical support in alignment with the following DC Health guidance. Additionally, some events (e.g., sporting events or large gatherings) may require medical coverage. For additional considerations, please contact EMeRG to identify an appropriate medical staffing plan.

Scheduling

Requests for EMeRG staffing should be made at least 2-3 weeks prior to the event. 

EMeRG Service Request Form

Billing

The department or organization requesting EMS services will be billed at the following hourly rates.

If Advanced Life Support (ALS) resources are required for the event, EMeRG will contract with a third-party service to provide those resources. The department or organization will be quoted and then charged the cost for those services. 

Overview

A fire watch is a temporary measure intended to ensure continuous and systematic surveillance of a building by one or more qualified individuals for the purposes of identifying and controlling fire hazards, detecting early signs of unwanted fire, raising an alarm of fire and notifying the fire department. Fire watch personnel shall remain on duty while places requiring a fire watch are open to the public or when an activity requiring a fire watch is being conducted. Fire watch can only be placed in effect or removed by EHS or Life Safety.

When a fire protection system is out of service, on-duty fire watch personnel shall have the following responsibilities:

• Keep diligent watch for fires and obstructions to means of egress, and other hazards.
• Take prompt measures to remediate hazards and extinguish fires that occur.
• Take prompt measures to assist in the evacuation of the public from the structures.

Requirements

Fire watch is required when a fire alarm system is placed out of service for an event.

Situations where fire watch  may be used for an event include:

• Fog machines or haze effects
• Pyrotechnics or special effects
• Candlelight or open flame ceremonies
• Cooking demonstrations
• Construction or maintenance near detectors
• Testing or system maintenance during setup

Scheduling

Fire watch must be requested 6 days in advance and can be requested using GW FixIt and selecting Events.

Fire Watch Service Request Via FixIt

Billing

Any department or organization requesting fire watch will be charged at a rate of $100/hour, per staff member conducting the fire watch. The number of required staff is determined by the venue and nature of the event.

Overview

For indoor events, at least one trained crowd manager is required, with one additional manager per 250 occupants unless exempted by fire authorities. For outdoor events, crowd managers are only required when attendance exceeds 250, with one manager per 250 people, subject to similar exemptions.

Requirements

At no time can the occupancy of a venue exceed the space’s occupant load. Occupant load certificates are required to be posted in a conspicuous place near the main exit of the space.

1. Assembly Occupancies (indoor events), shall be provided with a minimum of one trained crowd manager or crowd manager supervisor. Where the occupant load exceeds 250, additional trained crowd managers or crowd manager supervisors shall be provided at a ratio of one crowd manager or crowd manager supervisor for every 250 occupants, unless otherwise permitted by the following:
   1. The ratio of trained crowd managers to occupants shall be permitted to be reduced where, in the opinion of the authority having jurisdiction, the existence of an approved, supervised automatic sprinkler system and the nature of the event warrant. (NFPA 101:12.7.6.1)
2. Outdoor Events with more than 250 persons shall require a Crowd Control Manager. IFC 403.12.3.1(2018)
   1. Number of crowd managers. Not fewer than two trained crowd managers, and not fewer than one trained crowd manager for each 250 persons or portion thereof, shall be provided for the gathering. IFC (2018) 403.12.3.1 Exceptions:
   2. Outdoor events with fewer than 250 persons in attendance shall not require crowd managers.
   3. The number of crowd managers shall be reduced where, in the opinion of the fire code official, the fire protection provided by the facility and the nature of the event warrant a reduction.

*unless exempt as outlined above

Requests for Crowd Management 

Overview

The GWorld Office manages the official campus ID (physical and mobile), which provides access to campus spaces. Event Coordinators and Building Managers can request temporary access changes to facilitate reserved events; access must be approved as outlined below.

The following requests can be made:

• Unlock: The door will remain unlocked during the specified time, allowing unrestricted entry without requiring a GWorld card tap.
• Lock: The door will remain locked, requiring authorized GWorld card access for entry.
• Allow Temporary Tap Access: Grants short-term access to a door or space for either a specific list of individuals or a predefined patron group (e.g., General Campus Access) during a reserved event.
• Temporarily Restrict Tap Access: Revokes or limits access for a specific list of individuals or a patron group (e.g., General Campus Access) for a defined period, typically to secure a space for a private or restricted event.

Requests for Access Changes

Event Coordinators and building managers can request that one or more doors be unlocked for an event by email. Access changes must be requested 4 business days in advance through the GWorld Office at [email protected].

Unlock requests will be assessed according to the following:

• Number of external attendees expected for the event
• Impact to concurrent activities in the building
• External events occurring nearby
• Additional Campus Safety considerations

Exterior Door Requests

Any exterior door unlock requests must be approved by the GW Safety Associate Vice President or their designee. If exterior doors are unlocked, event staff, security, or GWPD must be present to control access.

Standalone Event Venue Requests

Access to buildings that primarily serve as event venues (e.g., the Smith Center and Lisner Auditorium) is managed directly by the venue manager. These teams manage their door unlock schedules independently. Please coordinate directly with your event coordinator.

Event Spaces in Academic Buildings

Any request to unlock an academic space must be submitted to the GWorld Office and approved by an authorized Building Manager, Event Coordinator, or the Registrar's Office.

Academic Building Requests

Any request to unlock an academic space must be submitted to the GWorld Office and approved by an authorized Building Manager or the Registrar's Office.

Other Considerations

• Outside event attendees will not be issued GWorld Cards. Event hosts should not submit Affiliate requests for attendees.
• Event access and unlock requests are not considered emergencies and will not be processed outside of business hours.
• GWPD does not have the ability to unlock spaces for events.