Event Safety Services

05/01/2026

A Blue Mountains Gazette article about the ESS team who contributed to the production of the Charlize Theron thriller APEX (due out on Netflix in April!). If you can't get past the paywall - screenshots are in comments.

Discover how Blue Mountains outdoor guides and students powered the production of the Netflix thriller Apex.

18/12/2025

END OF YEAR WRAP

At this time of year the ESS focus shifts to community and public events as endurance and sporting events wind down for the holiday period.
We’ve got first aiders assisting at the huge beach party that takes over Bronte Beach on Christmas Day and first aiders going to NYE events.
And today we have a team of four on the final job for the year helping NPWS to manage bushwalking tracks for a day of helicopter loads going in to Govetts Leap.
January and February 2026 are looking busy with sending first aiders to large conferences and sporting events.
Watch this space for enhancements to our heat mitigation services that we’ll be rolling out in 2026: daily WBGT predictions, weather monitoring and portable, onsite cooling equipment for hire.

movie: ESS staff are working today with National Parks to manage walking tracks for Heli Ops. vid by Lauren Storaker

09/12/2025

ESS - PART OF A MULTI-AGENCY TEAM LOOKING AFTER XMAS REVELLERS

We are pleased to be working with Waverley Council as part of the solution to the massive Bronte Beach Xmas Party that has grown into a big deal in recent years. We are sending a team of first aiders on Xmas day as part of a multi-agency Emergency Services team that includes Ambos, Police, Security and lots more.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/councils-250000-crackdown-after-unacceptable-christmas-day-party-at-bronte-beach-013348850.html?utm_social_post_id=617923576&utm_social_handle_id=243936098957151&fbclid=IwY2xjawOkshVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFjRmhsVzcwc2diQzEyOWhNc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHqnseS6jfMyIsarKOSifmbC2QyO2aB0fWpfxyJ38D9KpJMwc111fz50ShOBd_aem_Nrv8oEBoxVQ3T5BAUJoIXw

There is a long list of changes in place for one of the largest Christmas parties in the country.

27/10/2025

HEAT STRESS GUIDANCE FOR ATHLETES

ESS has been leading the way with research and guidelines for Heat Stress at Trail Running events since 2014.
We use the Wet Bulb Globe Thermometer Heat Stress Index that incorporates ambient temp, humidity, breeze (or lack of) to create a value to give event organisers customised information for their event in warm conditions that factors in their activity, the duration and runner cohort.
Using that data we can make a reliable forecast of whether we’ll see conditions where we could see participants collapse from heat and can work with organisers to come up with Heat Mitigation measures to keep the event going even on high heat stress days.
Sport Medicine Australia has just released an update on Heat Stress for sport and it’s great to see that the guidelines that ESS has been creating for 11 years is validated by the new SMA recommendations.
https://sma.org.au/sma-unveils-new-extreme-heat-policy/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNrzYtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHu1iY4OKYm0AIeCUlB_AYp5BmbV-9gpBkSY57GOBgcVIjacD6vYQWCIMeYrK_aem_yLAWcJuXxo8B9wX9AzqMwg
If event organisers want industry-best advice that’s informed by years of evaluation and experience drop a line and we can help you run events more safely on hot days.

The new Sports Medicine Australia (SMA) Extreme Heat Policy developed by Professor Ollie Jay (University of Sydney), Associate Professor Carolyn Broderick (University of NSW and Chief Medical Officer…

15/10/2025

22/09/2025

ESS HAS BEEN RUNNING WILD SINCE 2012!

We’ve just clocked up 13 years providing safety consulting, comms and first aid to the excellent Running Wild Trail Association!
Running Wild stage a calendar of Blue Mountains events over spring to autumn and all have become iconic in their categories including the Solitary Ultra, one of the most beautiful, remote and toughest short ultras around. The Kedumba Half is a brutal “little” jaunt down and back up Kedumba Pass, Glenbrook Marathon is a loop course based out of Euroka Clearing and “Saints and Sinners” is a social lap race format in the mid-mtns bush near Springwood.
It’s been a real honour to work with the community-minded Committee over so many years and to contribute in our small way to these great events and the wellbeing of thousands of trail runners.
Running Wild events are a great intro to Trail Running for Blueys and Sydney people and are friendly and welcoming for enthusiasts and fast runners.
The Narrow Neck Night Run is coming up on 15/11/25 - check it out.
https://www.runningwildnsw.com/

Photo: Lucas (3rd from the right) with some of the committee and vollies at Kedumba Half in September 2025.

10/09/2025

Working with the team from Single Track Events to get ready for Hounslow Classic this weekend. Here's our first weather report. It's looking like ideal running conditions and maybe some fast times.
ESS provides the Medical team, remote first aiders, the radio repeater network, advice around weather and conditions and the water filtering/pumping for the new water point in Blue Gum Forest.

WEATHER UPDATE - HOUNSLOW CLASSIC Marathon Sat 13/9/25 & 17km event Sun 14/9/25

• After some rain, heavy at times on Wednesday and lighter on Thursday weather conditions will clear for Friday and the weekend.
• Trails will be wet underfoot and puddles will remain in places.
• Damp rocks in shady and/or sheltered areas such as Grand Canyon will stay slippery into the weekend.
• River level for the crossing at Blue Gum Forest will be a little higher than usual. Possibly knee deep but we’ll get a better idea in coming days.
• Temps at Allview and cliff top tracks will top out in mid-teens (14C to 16C both days).
• Expect temps 10C hotter than that on north facing slopes in the sun (eg the climb up to Lockleys).
• Winds - light westerlies both days.
• Skies alternating sunny/cloudy both days.
• Humidity will be at the lower end of the scale (good news).
• Summary - ideal running conditions. We might see some fast times.

More accurate reports coming daily from now as our data becomes more accurate. Watch this space.

Lucas Trihey, Event Safety Services. Report issued 1100hrs Wednesday 10/9/25

04/07/2025

UTA PLANNING
Spent yesterday in a planning meeting with NPWS, BMCC, Water NSW, Ironman and the course team to review UTA 2025 and plan for 2026. This included ways to manage weather challenges, to further develop contingency course options and the trigger points to enact them. We also looked closely at the course out Narrow Neck (big news coming soon! :-)) as well as improving the erosion mitigation for Bruces Walk and Duncans Pass.
Then it was back to the ESS office with Tanya (Regional Director/Ironman) and Tom Landon-Smith (course marking team/UTA) to tidy up course changes and to fix the congestion issues we saw at Tarros/Duncans this year. UTA 2026 will see significant improvements.

30/05/2025

UTA 2025 - ITS A WRAP…

We just submitted the Medical Report for UTA 2025 to NSW Health, Emergency Services, Land managers and more. It’s been huge! Thanks RN Leanne and for the data crunching and words.

2025 saw 638 treatments (up from 518 in 2024) which reflects the extra 400 Miler runners. Three ambo transfers (a record low for such a huge field), oh, plus one more called by a bystander… oh well.

Since 2021 and despite a slight annual increase in runner numbers we are seeing fewer moderate and serious issues. I think three factors are at play:

(1) the trail running community seems to be maturing. Remember that big, commercial trail runs have only been occurring since 2008 with the first TNF100 and runners, coaches and event organisers are getting better with things like preparation, training, nutrition, hydration. Failures in all those areas used to create dozens more sick runners in past years.

(2) ESS has learned the medical and safety issues around ultra-distance trail running. Our approach is now more focussed on pre-emptive engagement and helping runners understand their bodies and their ailment earlier in the race (and hence help them “stay on the road”) whereas in the early years we waited for sick people to fall over.

(3) ESS has increased the clinical capabilities and staff at our Check Points and Medical Centres. Under the supervision of some of Australia’s most experienced trail running doctors we are now offering a higher level of treatment and supervision of moderately ill runners. Some patients that in earlier years would have been sent straight to hospital are now recovering under our care (under close supervision and with the benefit of better equipment and more medications) and can be released to their family or friends.

One of our aims, with the support of Ironman, has been to minimise the impact on local health and emergency services. Contributing to this has been the development of our “on call stretcher team” that has enabled us to carry out non-complex stretcher evacs off the course. Naturally anything serious is escalated to NSW Ambulance and Police Rescue (thx for being there Damo and ). Most of the stretcher team is made up of students doing the Outdoor Guides course at Katoomba High, Blue Mountains Grammar and TAFE.

Welcoming and looking after 7500 runners plus thousands more family members and supporters is a huge team effort across many organisations and individuals. It brings massive benefits to local businesses and an injection of energy into the whole community.

On behalf of the ESS team I’d like to sincerely thank the following for your engagement and support:

* Uncle King and the Gundungurra mob
* NSW Health
* Blue Mountains Council
* National Parks
* Ambos
* Police Rescue
* Scenic World - especially Aleks and Molly
* Water NSW

And the many runners we met during your many and varied journeys :-)

I particularly want to thank the Ironman and event team for your trust and support around budgets and resourcing - your passion for looking after all these runners really shows. (regional director/trails and RD), (Snr Ops/RD), Landon-Smith Course Team/Founder) Michelle Pepps, Bec and your teams.

Lucas Trihey / Event Safety Services

27/05/2025

Two legends … and me :-)

It was great to spend time with our ESS Medical Director Dr Glenn Singleman (centre) who worked at Finish Medical Centre at UTA last week. And double exciting to bump into one of our early trainers Paul McQuaid (left). Paul is a senior paramedic trainer at Ambulance NSW and did a number of training sessions in pre-hospital care (initial response etc) and whose legacy lives on with much of our training around compressions, injectable adrenaline and more. Many of our trainees will have heard me invoke Paul’s name as the basis for some of our procedures. Congrats Paul on your finish in the 100km event!

12/05/2025

We are just days out from Ultra Trail Australia 2025, the biggest trail run in the Southern Hemisphere. The first repeater was set up today to cover the new Miler course where it does a loop on the Six Foot Track section by the Coxs River. Six more repeaters will come online in coming days to provide comms and a safety net across this monster of an event: huge runner numbers, hundreds of volunteers and about 150 ESS shifts covering first aid and medical, logistics, track prep and erosion mitigation, ops managers and more. Hundreds of runners are arriving in the upper Blue Mountains every day and there's a buzz in the air.

25/03/2025

March - SUPPORTING TWO HIGH PROFILE FILM SHOOTS

Following our retirement from the Bash events late in 2024 we were expecting a bit of down-time before building up more work. Well… two film productions dropped in our lap. Firstly a fun little TV Commercial for Aldi - keep an eye out for the ESS vehicles, radios and other gear used in creative and imaginative ways…

This was followed quickly by the action thriller APEX that filmed in Blue Mountains locations. ESS provided hundreds of staff/days of gear porters, shoot nurse, canyon guides and safety consulting for the more adventurous locations.

In addition to our regular staff we gathered in lots of local students doing their Outdoor Guiding qualification from Katoomba High, BM Grammar and the local TAFE.

Every day I was getting really genuine rave reviews from the film company about how great our team was: hard working, skilled, willing and fun to have on set. It was great to give so much rewarding work to our regulars and all these young new crew.

The pics tell the rest of the story :-)