Event emergency action plan template: a fill-in plan and incident log for company offsites

By the Vantly team · Updated October 19, 2026

A guest feels unwell at dinner in a rented house two hours from the city, and ten people turn to look at the organizer. An event emergency action plan is what makes the next few minutes calm. It is a one-page document, written before the event, that names who calls 911, who stays with the person, who meets responders and who keeps the rest of the group together. It gives the exact address and access details responders need, follows the venue's own emergency procedures, and sets who gets told, and in what order. This guide is for anyone running a company event away from the office, anywhere in the US, from an evening in a city event space to an overnight retreat at a rented house in the country. The examples come from the New York area, such as a Manhattan venue with a security desk or a rental in the Catskills, but the template works the same way everywhere. It is general planning guidance, not legal or medical advice: in an emergency, call 911 first and follow emergency services and the venue's staff. The venue's procedures always come first, and your plan connects your group to them.

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A person wearing a lanyard reads a green binder and holds a pen in soft daylight. Papers and sticky notes are pinned to a glass partition behind them. — Photo: Mizuno K / Pexels

Download the emergency action plan template

The template is free and ungated; Google asks you to sign in to save your copy. It has three parts that fit on a few printed pages:

The one-page plan: the venue's full street address and how responders get in, where to meet them, phone coverage and a fallback phone, the nearest emergency department and the drive time, the venue's duty manager by day and overnight, the venue's assembly point, where the AED and first-aid kits are, and the venue's contact for accessible evacuation. Below that, a grid for the five roles, each with a name, a mobile number and a backup.
The phone tree: who is told, in what order, who tells them, and what they are told.
The incident log: one row per incident, with a "facts only" reminder at the top and a box for where the record is kept and who can see it.

It also includes a short version for attendees: the meeting point, who to tell, and that they call 911 first.

Make a copy of the Google Sheet or download the printable PDF.

Fill it in after you have walked the venue and read its procedures. Share the full version only with the people named in it, and give attendees the short version.

Start with the venue's plan, then fill the gaps

The venue, or the host of a rented house, already has its own procedures, and on the day they take priority over anything you write. Your job is to read them and plug your group into them. Ask for them in writing before you book, and then fill in whatever is missing.

Questions to ask the venue or host in writing:

What address should 911 use? A rural house's listing name or mailing address can differ from the address dispatchers can locate, so ask for the street address and a map pin for the entrance as well.
How do responders get in? Gate codes or a lockbox, who else holds keys, and whether the driveway can take an emergency vehicle in all weather, including a long, unpaved or snowy one.
Is there cell signal everywhere on site, and is there a landline or Wi-Fi calling as a fallback?
Where is the nearest emergency department, and how long is the drive? An urgent care clinic is not the same thing.
Is there an AED on site, and where are the first-aid kit and fire extinguishers?
What are the alarms, the evacuation routes and the outdoor assembly point?
Who is the duty manager overnight, or the host's or property manager's 24/7 contact?
Where are the water, gas and power shut-offs?
Are there rules for any pool, lake or hot tub, and is there a lifeguard?
In a city venue, how does building security or the front desk route responders to your floor?

For guests who cannot use stairs or may not hear an alarm, use the evacuation questions in our venue accessibility checklist, and put the venue's accessible-evacuation contact on your plan. For the wider diligence list, see the New York–area venue diligence checklist.

The five roles, and a backup for each

Naming roles in advance means nobody has to wonder whether someone else has already called. The American Heart Association's own advice splits the first moves between people: "Have someone call 911 and ask another person to get an AED."

The five emergency roles for a company event.
Role	What they do	Backup
Caller	Calls 911, stays on the line and gives the street address and access details	Named on the plan
Stay-with	Stays with the person until responders arrive, then goes with them or follows	Named on the plan
Responder guide	Meets responders at the gate, lobby or driveway and brings them in	Named on the plan
Group lead	Keeps everyone else together and away, and pauses or continues the program	Named on the plan
Notifier	Runs the phone tree once the person is in responders' hands	Named on the plan

At a small event, one person may hold two roles; write down which two. If your call sheet names a first-aid lead, as in the company offsite day-before runbook, that person is a natural Stay-with. This plan does not teach first aid. For the skills themselves, people can take a course such as the American Red Cross first aid training.

Medical emergency at a company event: the first ten minutes

Ready.gov puts it plainly: "The actions taken in the initial minutes of an emergency are critical." For the organizer, those minutes are about coordination, not treatment:

Call 911. The Caller does it at once and stays on the line.
Tell the venue. Staff can guide responders in, and bring the AED or first-aid kit if they have one.
Give the person privacy. The Group lead moves everyone else away and decides whether the program pauses.
Send the Responder guide to the entrance. In the dark or at a large venue, someone at the gate makes the entrance easy to find.
Note the time. The time things happened goes in the incident log later.

For an allergic reaction, our guide to severe food allergies at company events has the allergy card and the roles for that scenario. For a board day, the board-day runbook covers the specifics.

Remote venues: make sure responders can find you

Ready.gov notes: "A call for help to public emergency services that provides full and accurate information will help the dispatcher send the right responders and equipment." At a rented house in the countryside, whether in the Rockies, the Hill Country or the Catskills, full and accurate information is the part to settle before anyone arrives.

The street address responders would use, not the listing name, plus the entrance map pin and a photo of the entrance and driveway from the host.
Access: gate codes, which driveway, what to look for after dark and where someone will wait.
Phone coverage: test it across the property on arrival, including outbuildings, and note a landline or Wi-Fi calling fallback. Text-to-911 can help when speaking isn't possible, but the FCC says "Text-to-911 is only currently available in certain locations" and that "you should always make a voice call to 911 during an emergency whenever possible." Where texting isn't supported, the FCC says you should get an automatic "bounce-back" message telling you to contact emergency services another way.
The nearest emergency department and the drive time, checked in advance, with the date you checked, plus who has a car to follow the ambulance and get the Stay-with back.

Share the access details only with the five role holders, never in the attendee document. On arrival, walk to the meeting point and test the phones. Sign up for the emergency alerts of the city or county where the event is; in New York City, for example, that is Notify NYC.

Other scenarios: the first move and who owns it

This plan covers the moment someone is unwell or hurt. Other scenarios have their own owners and their own guides:

First move and owner for other emergency scenarios at a company event.
Scenario	First move	Who decides	Where the detail lives
Someone unwell or injured	Call 911, then follow the five roles	Caller and Group lead	This page
Allergic reaction	Follow the allergy card and call 911	The allergy plan's named roles	Severe food allergies guide
Fire alarm or evacuation	Follow venue staff to the venue's assembly point, then count heads	The venue	The venue's procedures; your headcount list
Attendee missing or unaccounted for	Check the master list, find out who saw them last, tell venue staff, call 911 if there is concern	Event lead	This page and your master list
Severe weather or lightning	Follow the go/no-go tree	Weather decision owner	Severe weather plan
Transport incident	Follow the transport company's incident process	The transport company	Group transport guide
Conduct or safety concern between attendees	Hand it to HR's process	HR	Code of conduct guide
Power or utility outage	Call the venue duty manager or host	Event lead pauses or continues	The venue's procedures

The phone tree: who hears what, in what order

The order is fixed in advance, so nobody improvises in a group chat:

Emergency services, always first.
The venue duty manager or the host.
The event lead, if they are not already on the scene.
The executive sponsor.
People Ops or HR.
The person's emergency contact, reached by whoever company policy names, such as HR, and never through a group chat.

Tell each person facts, not guesses: what happened, where the person is now, and what happens next. Keep names and health details out of shared channels and team chats. The numbers live on your call sheet, as set out in the day-before runbook; the phone tree only sets the order.

Incident log: what to write down the same day

Write the log the same day, while details are fresh, rather than reconstructing it days later. Each entry records:

Date, time and place
What happened, in plain, factual language
Who was involved, by name, with no diagnosis and no blame
Who responded and what they did
Who was notified, and when
Witnesses: names and contact details, without writing statements for them
The follow-up owner
Where the record is stored and who can see it

Keep health information to the minimum. If the venue files its own incident report, ask for a copy. Send the log the same day to the one HR contact the company named in advance, and only to people who need to know. From there, HR, Legal or the company's insurer decide what happens to the record. Conduct concerns go straight into HR's process rather than the event log; our code of conduct guide covers how to set that up.

Collect emergency contacts and only what attendees choose to share. Keep them out of the shared run of show and open trackers, and give them only to the role holders who need them, on the day. The master tracker in the first-time EA offsite checklist has an emergency contact column for that purpose, and the severe food allergies guide shows a consent-based way to ask. Ask People Ops how this information should be held and when it should be deleted.

Is this the same as an OSHA emergency action plan?

Not exactly. OSHA uses "emergency action plan" for an employer's workplace plan. In its own words, "OSHA recommends that all employers have an Emergency Action Plan. A plan is mandatory when required by an OSHA standard." The standard itself is 29 CFR 1910.38.

At a third-party venue, the venue's own procedures apply, and your plan connects your group to them. This template is a planning aid for that group, not an OSHA compliance document. Your company's safety or legal team decides whether any workplace requirements apply to your event.

Brief everyone in five minutes

Named role holders get the full plan the day before, with the run of show, and confirm their role and backup.
The venue and transport contacts confirm their part of it: the address, access and their own procedures.
Attendees get the short version in the welcome note: the meeting point, who to tell, and that they call 911 first. The attendee traveler guide covers the rest of what they need to know.

The plan travels with the schedule, so attach it to your offsite agenda template and walk through it in the day-before runbook.

Where a local event designer helps

The hard part of this plan is the local detail: the address dispatchers can find, the gate code, the nearest emergency department and the venue's own procedures. With Vantly, a local event designer who knows the destination can walk the venue, gather its emergency procedures, confirm the responder address and access details for a remote house, and fill in the plan with you before the event. Our intent is one vendor, one PO for the event, rather than a separate contract and deposit for every vendor. You can see sample events as examples a designer tailors to your team, browse local event designers by destination, or read the corporate retreat guide for longer programs.

Want the local details handled before you arrive?

Tell us your dates, headcount and destination, and a local event designer will put together a tailor-made proposal, with the venue's procedures gathered and the plan filled in with you. Get a custom quote.

Frequently asked questions

What should an event emergency action plan include?

The venue's full street address and how responders get in, the venue's own procedures and assembly point, five named roles with a backup for each, the nearest emergency department, who gets told and in what order, and an incident log. Fill it in after the venue walkthrough and share the full version only with the named roles.

Who should call 911 at a company event?

The person named as Caller in your plan, or their backup, and anyone at all if neither is there. A second person stays with the attendee, a third meets responders at the entrance, and someone else keeps the rest of the group together. Naming the roles in advance stops everyone assuming someone else has called.

What should we do first if someone has a medical emergency at an offsite?

Call 911, then tell the venue so staff can guide responders in and bring any first-aid equipment they have. Give the person privacy by moving others away, send someone to meet responders at the entrance, and note the time. Follow emergency services and trained staff from there.

How do responders find a remote rental house?

Give them the street address dispatchers can locate, not a listing name, plus a map pin for the entrance, gate codes, which driveway to use and where someone will meet them. Test phone signal across the property on arrival, note a fallback phone, and check the nearest emergency department and drive time in advance.

Who should we notify after an emergency at a company event, and in what order?

Emergency services first, then the venue, the event lead and the executive sponsor, then People Ops or HR. The person's emergency contact is reached by whoever company policy names, such as HR, and never through a group chat. Share facts, not guesses, and keep names and health details out of shared channels.

What should a company event incident report include?

The date, time and place; what happened, in plain, factual language; who was involved and who responded; who was notified, and when; witnesses' names and contacts; the follow-up owner; and where the record is kept. Write it the same day, keep health details to a minimum, and send it to the HR contact named in advance.

Is an event emergency action plan the same as an OSHA emergency action plan?

Not exactly. OSHA uses "emergency action plan" for an employer's workplace plan, which is mandatory when an OSHA standard requires one. At a third-party venue, the venue's procedures apply and your plan connects your group to them. Ask your company's safety or legal team whether any workplace requirements apply to your event.

Where can I find a free event emergency action plan template?

This page has one: a one-page plan, a phone tree and an incident log, as a "make a copy" Google Sheet and a printable PDF, free and ungated; Google asks you to sign in to save your copy. It is built for company events at venues and rented houses, so it connects your group to the venue's own procedures rather than replacing them.

Sources

Ready.gov, Emergency plans
Ready.gov, Emergency response plan
OSHA, General industry quickstart
OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.38, Emergency action plans
Federal Communications Commission, Text to 911: what you need to know
American Heart Association, What is an AED?
American Red Cross, First aid training
NYC Emergency Management, Notify NYC

All sources checked October 19, 2026.