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Flooding – Lessons from the Deluge
29 April 2008
In the summer of 2007, thousands of UK homes and businesses were
affected by severe and widespread flooding. Fire and Rescue
services were stretched to their capacity and in some cases beyond
– Humberside Fire and Rescue Service received over 3,000 calls in
18 hours compared to the usual 56 for the same period.
The devastation caused by the emergency and the vital role
played by Fire and Rescue Services prompted the Government to
commission a major review. Sir Ken Knight, the Chief Fire and
Rescue advisor, detailed in the report valuable lessons and
contingency plans that all fire managers should be aware of.
The report echoes the thoughts of all those who called upon the
Fire Services in acknowledging the exceptional efforts made during
the emergency response, but also highlights lessons to be learned
and improvements to be made to ensure that a more effective service
can be provided.
Control and communications
During the floods, control rooms were overstretched by the sheer
number of calls received over a short period of time. The report
balances the need to implement measures to ensure Fire Services are
able to cope in future with the proposal to introduce nine
interoperable Regional Control Centres (RCC), currently part of the
Communities and Local Government FiReControl Project. (note – the
implementation of this was recommended prior to the report).
It is anticipated that the introduction of RCCs will allow Fire
Services to deal with a potentially vast number of emergency calls
more effectively whilst providing a resilient response. Until then
the following contingency measures are recommended:
- Installation of a call filtering service for use in extreme,
high volume call conditions.
- Introduction of a queuing system for callers, providing
automated announcements with reassuring intelligent
information.
- Consideration of whether other call centres in the country
could be utilised effectively to deal with calls.
- Ensuring that current staffing levels offer sufficient
flexibility to deal with calls.
Statutory duty, equipment, training health and safety
The report concludes that The Fire Services should not be given
a statutory duty for flood rescue in addition to the legal powers
it already has. It is proposed that operational change rather than
legislative revision will provide the most effective means of
improving emergency capability. Suitable protective equipment and
adequately trained staff will need to be readily available to
enable an effective response to major floods. In order to fill the
gaps found in provision of such resources, a number of
recommendations are made:
- Training on the use of appropriate equipment to ensure
compliance with relevant health and safety legislation.
- Standardised guidance for Fire Service staff working in major
floods.
- An appropriate response procedure for dealing with contaminated
protective equipment.
- Inland water rescue training to be standardised by the
appropriate Government Skills Council to ensure consistency across
all emergency services.
Flood risk information, co-ordination and clarity of
roles
The report also recognises the need to maintain close review of
weather information provided by the Met Office and Environment
Agency and agree appropriate warning levels in the event of adverse
weather.
The importance of co-ordinating arrangements between various
organisations such as the Department for Environment Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency for flood rescue is key,
although the funding requirements for putting this in place have
been acknowledged.
Implications for fire services
The implications of the recommendations are wide ranging and
will undoubtedly involve a fairly radical re-think of current
systems. A nationally linked network of fire control services is
envisaged to cope with volume calls in emergency situations, as
well as national uniformity in equipment and training, so as to
allow cross support between Fire Services.
The logistics of implementing the recommendations will not be
easy (not least the funding issues involved) and close scrutiny of
the potential impact may well be prudent – for example, it is
foreseeable that Fire Service personnel will be required to work
with equipment and personnel not only from other Fire Services but
also other organisations.
Moving forward, it will be necessary for Fire Services and
relevant organisations to work closely together to ensure the
sharing of expertise and information in working towards a common
goal. Uniformity across the board is key.
Flooding – the way forward?
In the summer of 2008, Defra is expected to publish a report led
by Sir Michael Pitt that considers the wider implications of the
2007 flooding. It is hoped that it will complement the findings of
Sir Ken Knight and allow all involved to prepare effectively for
what seems to be the inevitable.
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