Key Roles and Responsibilites
Emergency Services and Other Agencies
- Police
- Fire and Rescue
- Ambulance Service e.g. Paramedics, Air Ambulance, Emergency medical technicians(EMTs)
- Highways Agency
- Local Authority
- Health and Safety Executive
- Coroner
- Gold - Gold Command decides what to do about a situation and then give the order to silver command to carry out.
- Silver - Silver Command take the orders from Gold command and give them to Bronze command to carry out.
- Bronze - Bronze Command carry out and execute the orders given to them by silver command.
The Police
The role of the police is to secure and preserve the incident area, by cordoning the area off and stopping any sightseers from interfeering with the scene. They also control traffic through the use of road blocks.
If a police officer is the first one on the scene then, they have to asses the situation. Co-ordinate the emergency services e.g Ambulance, Fire and Rescue and Air Ambulance if necessary, they also have to co-ordinate the provision of information to the media/public. The police have to take into account the safety of any casualties and emergency service personnel.
They will designate a person to be in charge and that person will become Gold command. Then Gold command will designate roles to other people in the team and they will become Silver and Bronze command respectively.
The Police have to communicate with the other emergency service teams, so that thye can get the job done effiecently and safely. During and incident the police will take the statements of any witnesses, so that they can figure out how and why the accident happened. They also take the names and addresses of suspects and witnesses, in case they have a break through in the case and need to make any arrests at a later date.
Depending on the scale of the emergency, the police team will the following three officers:
- Documentation Officer - As the name suggests this Officer documents everything from and estimated time of the accident to witness and suspects statement.
- Communication Officer - The communication officer keeps in contact, with all the emergency services and makes sure that, the roads are clear, just i case an Air ambulance needs to land or An Ambulance needs to rush someone to hospital.
- Property Officer - The Property Officer makes sure that a property be it a building or a car is kept in th condition it is found in and is not disturbed by any on-lookers.
Fire and Rescue
The Fire and Rescue service need to maintain a high level of physical and medical fitness, so that they can carry out all the duties of a fire-fighter. The Fire and Rescue team also have an important role when attending a scene. If the incident is a road traffic collision for example and someone is trapped, then they have to work together s a team to safely free that person.
As with all the services the Fire and Rescue teams must respond immediatley and safely to all emergency calls and requests for assisstance. However with the Fire and Rescue service thay have to work to alert members of the community to the risks and hazards of fires.
When attending an incident the Fire and Rescue service need to detect and identify any hazardous materials that could cause problems for the emergency services. They also have to maintain the safety of any casualties and the other teams. As well as detecting and identifying, the Fire and Rescue service also has to moniter and manage the hazardous materials that they have found at the scene.
When there is an accident the area gets cordoned off so that the overseeing public cannot disturb any evidence. Then another area is cordoned off within the cordon so that the emergency services can manage the safety of the operation.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue service
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| The Fire and Rescue service use a similar device like this Thermal Imaging camera, so that they can find bodies/heat sources within a burning buiding. |
Ambulance Service
They need to establish which of the casualties is most seriously injured and then ensure that they reach hospital in as short as possible. The Ambulance service also need to ensure that the remaining casualties attended to and that they get the appropriate treatment.
They need to probide an area for the National Health Service staff and other medical resources such as the air ambulance. They should ensure that thay have a direct link to the NHS throughone phone number and tht the relatives and friends of the injured know which numbet to call if they need information. Along with the direct link to the NHS, the Ambulance Service need to make sure that thay have a direct link to other agencies, hospitals and control facilities.
If there was an accident on the motorway (M1) then the Ambulance Service would need to desigante hospitals so they they could recieve any casualties. However blocking the motorway, means blocking off other roads, this means that tge Air Ambulance would be a more sufficient way to transport casualties. If this was to happen then they could ask the police to clear a road to the hospital, then inform all Ambulance ervice personnel, that the rute they have cleared, is the route to take.
They need to ensure that that the public know about, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Incidents (CBRN) and what to look for if one ever occurs.
Coroner
The role of a Coroner is to establish cause of death and whether there a suspicious circumstances. They also preserve any evidence tat they have found on/in the body i.e. bullets, shrapnel, and/or any trace that is found. They can identify bodies from dental records and various other items e.g. if someone has had a hip replacement, they can check the serial number.
Health and Safety Executive
If an incident has to be declared 'Major' then, the Health and Safety Executive decides whether they need a policy or procedure review. They approve the publication of the report following the major incident. The HSE also decide when the information can be realeased to the public/media. They then reviwe the policy and procedures review and take into account any recommendations.
Highways Agency
They work closely with the Police to make sure that they reduce the number of casualties/fatalities and improve the safety of all road users.
Local Authority
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| Local Authority in England |
Their role is to provide support to the emergency services, the local community, lead the recovery stage after an incident and use resources to lessen the intensity of the effects of an emergency. The Local Autorities take over during the recovery phase of the incident, so that they can help the community get back a sense of normality.
The Local Authority also provide social services to help anyone who may have lost a friend/relative during the incident.
Environment Agency
Scene Preservation and The Service Provisions of Specialist Units
Scene Preservation
Normally the first person on scene cordons the area off and makes sure that no evidence has been compromised until the CSIs arrive on scene.
Services Involved in Scene Preservation
- Police
- Coroner
- Crime Scene Investigators (CSIs)
- Road Traffic Collison Investigators (RTCIs)
Crime Scene Inestigators(CSIs)
Crime Scene Investigators or CSIs as they are more commonly known, gather evidence to prove/disprove whether someone is quilty of committing an offence.
They collect different types of evidence such as trace, bullets, DNA, liquids etc. and then they bag it and send it off to be tested. They can judge the trajectory at whch the bullet entered the body and the direction in which it came from. They can also work out the calibre of the weapon and what type of weapon it was. They can aslo check for fingerprints to determine who was there at the time of the incident.
They aslo have to photograph each bit of evidence found and where it is found, so that they can refer back to it later if needs be. They also make a sketch of the scene, so that they can take measurements and refer back to the sketch later on in the investigation.
Road Traffic Collision Investigators (RTCIs)
Road Traffic Collision Investigators makes sure that any evidence at the scen doesn't get disturbed. They would also collect any evidence, that can give them any idea what happened. They sketch the scne out so that they can add measurements and places where the evidence is found on the mapped out area.
Health and safety Considerations
Personal, Protective Equipment
Personal Protective Equipment or PPE protects a person from health and safety risks that they might encounter at work e.g. biohazard suits for if there are any chemical, Biological, radiological or Nuclear incidents or helmets and flame-proof clothing for when Fire and Rescue personnel are going into a burning building and there's debris falling everywhere.
When attending an incident the emergency services have to make sure that they have got all their protective equipment with them.
Control of Sunstances Hazardous to Health
The regulations of Control of Substances Hazardous to Health were put in place to protect people from illness caused by hazardous materials. Employers are required to assess any health and safety risks that may affect their employees. When attending and accident the emergency services have to assess the hazards and deal with them safely and effieciently.
Reporting of Inuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurences Regulations
These regulations state that the employer needs to keep a record of any major work related injuries or deaths. They alos need to keep a record of any diseases that employees have.
By doing this the health and safety executive and local authorities can identify where the risks arise and investigate any serious accidents that may have happened at work.
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
This act states that the employers must ensure that all employees are protected from any risk of physical harm that may happen at work. However due to the act being hijacked by the politically correct elite, it is being use to prevent children enjoying simple games such as conkers because of the percieved risks.
Resources
- ATC - Health and Safety ACP 5 (Air Cadet Publication) - Acronyms e.g. RIDDOR, COSHH etc.
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Major Incident Policy provided by my Aunt who works at the Hospital.
- New Dimensions Resources in Derbyshire kindly provided by my Friend's Dad who works as part of the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.
- London Major Incident Plan
Inter-agency cooperation is very important, when dealing with and emergency incident. If the Police and Ambulance Service didn't communicate, then the Ambulance service wouldn't know about any hazards, that may be harmful, they won't know the number of casulties or fatalites if there are any.
If a emergency incident happens, and the Police are first to arrive on scene, then they will gather information, such as how many casualties there are, whether there are any hazards that will be harmful to the services and witness statements. They will then inform the Ambulance/Fire and Rescue service and any other service that is needed of all of this.
An example of poor inter-service cooperation is the London Bombings in 2005. The Police were informed that the power was down in the underground tube, making it safe to get to the casualties. However the Police didn't inform the Fire and Rescue Headquarter, which meant that the Fire and Rescue team wasn't told for at least 20 minutes. This poo co-operation between the two services meant that people died.
This is why inter-service cooperation is very important.
The Impact of Health and Safety regulations on the Services Responding to an Emergency Incident
Many people believe that the Health and Safety regulations are a load of rubbish. Some of them are, like the Children aren't allowed to play simple playground games anymore, this one i do agree with. But the regulations are there to help keep us all safe. If we didn't have certain health and safety regulations, then if there was a house fire, the Fire and Rescue Service would probably head straight into the fire to save any people trapped in the house, without actually evaluating the situation and assessing the hazards.
The health and safety regulations have quite a big impact on the Emergency Services. It is these regualtions that stop the CBRN team from saying an area 'safe' when really it isn't, the regulations make them stop and think and maybe take a couple of tests to make sure that the area really is safe and its okay for the Emergency Services to carry on with the situation.
