Emergency Planning - What is an emergency?

The general public often define a major emergency as a disaster, catastrophe or calamity.

In the context of emergency planning a useful working definition of a major emergency is:

Any event (happening with or without warning) causing or threatening death or injury, damage to property or the environment or disruption to the community which, due to the scale of its effects, cannot be dealt with by the emergency services and local authorities as part of their day-to-day activities.

Types of Major Emergency:

• War or terrorism
• Major public disorder or criminal activity
• Severe weather conditions and flooding
• Major structural collapse
• Major fire or explosion
• Significant escape of toxins including ionising radiation
• Threat to public health such as rabies
• Incidents which involve support for national agencies or other local authorities
• Incidents involving County Council premises, employees or persons for whom the Council has responsibility
• Incidents outside the United Kingdom that affect the people of East Hampshire 
  

Development of Response

Alert – The initial report of an emergency is usually received by the Police or Fire and Rescue Service. They will alert the other emergency services and activate their own pre-determined procedures.

Operational Co-ordination – The overall co-ordination of operations at the emergency site lies with the senior police officer present (the Police Incident Commander) although the Fire and Rescue Service has the primary legal responsibility for operations at a fire.

Declaration of a Major Emergency – The decision to declare a major emergency can be made by any of the emergency services. This declaration will be passed to the County Council’s duty Emergency Planning Officer (via the Fire and Rescue Service) who will warn other persons/organisations as set out in the Emergency Planning Unit’s operating procedures.

During a major incident it is essential to make sure that there is an effective Crisis Management structure in place in order to help ensure an effective response. A well recognised and understood structure is used in these situations. This consists of three levels, each with a specific function:

Strategic / Gold Command (Major Incident Control Room)

The Gold Group comprises mainly Chief Officers of the relevant organisations and will normally be formed in a specific Emergency Centre that is designated before, or at the start of an incident. The Major Incident Control Room does not need to be close to the incident but at a location which has the necessary communications and other suitable facilities. At the Major Incident Control Room senior representatives from local authorities and the other organisations involved will establish a strategic level of management, generally the Police will have the initial lead in incidents. The main role of the Gold group is to formulate the strategy for response.

Tactical / Silver Command (Incident Control Post)
When a major emergency is declared an Incident Control Post will be established by the Police under the control of the Police Incident Commander.  The Tactical / Silver group will normally be situated close to the scene, location will depend on the type of incident.  Its role is to provide a tactical response that will see the strategy of the Gold command implemented effectively and will direct the activities of the operational staff level. The Silver group will regularly liaise with the Gold group to ensure that the strategic response is effective. Silver also controls the resources provided by the various agencies and act as the main liaison between central Government departments and the responding agencies.  The local authority officer sent to Silver Command would be of appropriate seniority to take part in the policy/decision making process.

Operational / Bronze Command (Forward Control Point)

The Operational / Bronze Group controls and deploys resources on the scene, in a specific role and location. There may be a number of separate Bronze Groups in operation, depending upon the size of the incident and the specific nature of the emergency, in order to fulfil the tactical and strategic response effectively.  Separate Bronze Commands, which all report to Silver Command, could include the site of the emergency itself, traffic management and evacuation points.

Emergency Operations Centres

In a major emergency the local authorities involved may decide to activate their Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs). The Chief Executive will then decide on the Council’s plan of action and mobilise and co-ordinate services.  Usually the initial co-ordination of the local authority response will be carried out at a local authority Emergency Operations Centre. Local authority support will be along normal service delivery lines based on close liaison between authorities. This will be achieved by County and District Council plans specifying who will alert and keep informed colleagues in other Councils and by each authority establishing an Emergency Operations Centre to act as the main point of contact for information and enquiries.

Roles of the Emergency Services

Police  
In most major emergencies Hampshire Police will assume the overall co-ordinating role for operations, taking responsibility for communications, protection of the site, investigation of the incident and any criminal enquiry. They also process casualty information and act on behalf of HM Coroner in identifying and arranging for the removal of the dead.

Casualty Information - the identification of people involved in accidents/emergencies is a Police responsibility. All enquiries will be handled by a Police Casualty Bureau and by the hospital information service following agreed procedures.

Public Information - the Police Press Officer at the scene of any major emergency will co-ordinate the response to all media enquiries.  As the incident develops the Press Officer will arrange briefings for senior County and District Council personnel and will work closely with the County and District Press Officers.

The Police will offer to provide Family Liaison Officers (FLOs) to the families of those who have died. The FLOs are specially trained police officers who, if requested, will liaise between the families and the media as a way of minimising intrusion and distress.

Fire and Rescue Service 
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service is likely to be the first emergency service at the scene of an emergency. If the emergency is large enough the Fire and Rescue Service will initiate local authority assistance by contacting the County Council’s duty Emergency Planning Officer.

The role of Hampshire Fire & Rescue:

• Rescue people trapped in a fire, wreckage or debris
• Ensure that the emergency does not escalate by extinguishing fire, undertake measures to prevent fire and deal with other hazardous situations such as chemical leaks
• Assume responsibility for the command, control and safety of all personnel within the inner cordon of a fire related emergency
• Help the Police recover bodies

Health Service 
Hospitals which have Accident and Emergency Departments, and which can provide a Mobile Medical Team to attend the scene of a major emergency, are designated as “receiving hospitals”. Each receiving hospital has a Major Incident Plan which provides for additional staff and the suspension of routine surgical care to allow for large numbers of incoming casualties.

The Ambulance Service is responsible for the treatment and care of those injured and their delivery to hospital, designating which receiving hospitals will take casualties during a major emergency and for the deployment and overall co-ordination of all on scene medical resources.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is a national organisation dedicated to protecting people’s health and reducing the impact of infectious diseases, chemical hazards, poisons and radiation hazards. They have a variety of professional staff including expertise in health and scientific fields.