Harold Workman, president and CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board, said his staff handles events that require awareness and preparation for a wide range of possible emergencies. The fair board, which also sponsors the National Farm Machinery Show and the North American Livestock Exposition, has experienced events ranging from car fires to medical emergencies. The fires usually are car fires from vehicles parked on grass during dry summer days at the fairgrounds. As a precaution during the Kentucky State Fair, the fair board keeps a Louisville Fire Department pumper on site. Hutya said that before each show, her staff rehearses a crisis plan that they prepare for the annual recreational vehicle trade show.
Medical emergencies are one emergency that planners say requires special staffing.
Workman said he and his staff require all meeting and event organizers to arrange for on-site emergency medical technicians, often through the American Red Cross. The fair board also maintains a file of safety and security vendors that offer their services for events at the convention facilities. Clarke Beasley, a retired gospel singer, organizes the National Quartet Convention, held in Louisville since 1993, and said medical staff can be key for the annual event. The convention attracts about 40,000 people to the fair and exposition center each year. But he declined to be more specific.