EST Aug 2011

AUGUST 2011

VOLUME 12 | 3

ᔡ News: London 2012 emergency comms ready for service and a Queen’s Ambulance Medal launched ᔡ Registration open for ESS2011 – visit www.emergencyuk.com ᔡ More for Less: including employee support – assisting the ‘survivors’ of the sector’s budget cuts ᔡ The Consortium – a new home for Firebuy frameworks ᔡ Profile: a look at Premier Hazard, a market leader in the design and build of vehicle lightbars ᔡ Civil Resilience: opportunities for fire control suppliers and a people focused approach from ambulance services ᔡ Vehicles: a preview of NAPFM 2011 plus why emergency services are looking at smaller emergency vehicles ᔡ Trauma Care: includes managing the medical response to casualties of suicide terrorism in cities ᔡ A guide to some of the latest products and services available ISSN 1472-1090

www.emergencyservicestimes.com

CONTENTS | 1

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Regular features First Words David Brown, Event Director, The Emergency Services Show 2011, outlines the importance of establishing close working relationships within the emergency sector

3

News Fire control collaboration in Wales, London 2012 emergency communications ready for service and the launch of a new Queen’s Ambulance Medal

4

Page 13 – how the emergency services worked together in the face of the recent public order disturbances in England.

Photo: Lewis Whyld | Press Association

Events A review of Emergency Scotland 2011 and previews of UK Rescue Challenge 2011, the Professional Recovery Tow Show and The Emergency Services Show 2011

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Company Profile The Consortium for Purchasing and Distribution Limited – the new home for Firebuy frameworks – and Premier Hazard outlines how innovation and technology assist policing

15

Profile Selwyn Kendrick – improving the 4x4 driving skills of the rescue and emergency services

32

Inside this issue Vehicles

Emergency Medicine

What’s in store at NAPFM 2011, the savings available through the NPIA’s Collaborative Police Procurement Programme, fire and rescue services investigate helicopter and motorbike use in fire fighting plus a wealth of vehicle news and products

Professor Sir Keith Porter focuses on the changing face of trauma care, the MDA’s experience of the medical response to casualties of suicide terrorism in Israel; and the improvements in skills and patient care clinical governance has brought to a county fire and rescue service

14

Civil Resilience Opportunities for enhanced interoperability and community safety after FiReControl, how the ambulance service is learning to focus on people rather than incidents in disaster management and the use of high volume pumps in wildfire incidents

40

49

More for Less Collaboration to ease budget restraints in the West Midlands, how to balance cost and productivity and employee support – assisting the ‘survivors’ of the budget cuts

58

Contracts & People Praise for Surrey Police, RBS funding for South East Coast Ambulance Service and three new appliances for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service

56

Technology Voice recording solutions, crisis management software, a portable 3G base station and more…

64

Product Information Telescopic rescue pole, bulletproof vest, extrication tool support bag, public order boots and more…

67

Last Words Tracey Stone from Autodesk discusses whether gaming technology could assist the emergency services

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Page 37 – Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service wins praise for its green fleet initiatives.

Emergency Services Times August 2011

2 | A-Z

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Companies Company Name

Page No

3M ......................................................................................................27 Airwave..........................................................................................6, 64 Aligned Assets...................................................................................57 Amputees in Action..........................................................................69 Angloco Ltd ......................................................................................24 APD Communications.....................................................................64 Asian Fire Service Network (AFSN)..............................................55 Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS)..............36 Autodesk............................................................................................72 Avon Fire and Rescue Service ..................................................21, 44 Avon Protection................................................................................70 Babcock..............................................................................................28 Badger Software ................................................................................65 Balcan Engineering ..........................................................................69 BikeRegister ......................................................................................57 BMW............................................................................................23, 24 British Association of Women in Policing (BAWP).....................56 Carnation Designs ............................................................................34 Cassidian......................................................................................47, 64 Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service ..............................................6, 56 CISCO................................................................................................64 Clear Communication People .........................................................70 Cleveland Fire Brigade.......................................................................7 Cleveland Police Authority..............................................................64 Cole Hersee........................................................................................39 Communications Solutions UK......................................................56 Delta...................................................................................................39 Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service..........................8, 34 DMS technologies ............................................................................19 Dometic Group .................................................................................34 Draeger ..............................................................................................69 East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS)..................................36 East of England Ambulance Service .............................................48 Emergency Planning Society ....................................................10, 48 Emergency Scotland 2011................................................................10 Emergency Services Show 2011.......................................................3 Enera ..................................................................................................69 Eurocopter.........................................................................................21 Fenland Laundries Ltd....................................................................70 Finer Filters ......................................................................................37 Firebuy from The Consortium........................................................15 Geneva Police....................................................................................39 Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service.................................44, 47 Great Western Ambulance Service ...................................................7 Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service................................37 Greater Manchester Police...............................................................57 Halfords .............................................................................................36

Company Name

Page No

Company Name

Page No

Hampshire Constabulary .................................................................37 Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service...............................................62 Health Protection Agency .................................................................7 Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies (HMIC) ..................6 Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service.........................54 Holmatro ...........................................................................................69 Hughes Safety Showers......................................................................7 JLT Mobile Computers....................................................................39 Kent Fire and Rescue Service .....................................................7, 62 LabLogic Systems ............................................................................69 London Ambulance Service ............................................................70 London Fire Brigade (LFB)......................................................12, 44 London’s Air Ambulance ................................................................56 Loughborough University.................................................................7 Lowland Search Dogs Sussex (LSD Sx) ........................................57 Magen David Adom (MDA) ..........................................................52 Mapyx UK...........................................................................................4 Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service ..........................................4, 23 Merseyside Police .........................................................................4, 27 Metropolitan Police..........................................................................57 Michelin ...........................................................................................36 Motorola Solutions ...........................................................................56 National Ambulance Resilience Board (NARB)...........................48 National Association of Police Fleet Managers (NAPFM)..........19 National Police Air Service .............................................................27 National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) .........................20 National Resilience Assurance Team (NRAT) ..............................44 Nationwide 4x4 .................................................................................32 NHS East Midlands............................................................................7 Nissan.................................................................................................37 North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) .........................................7 North Wales Fire and Rescue Service ..............................................4 North West Air Operations Group .................................................27 North West Ambulance Service (NWAS)..................................6, 48 Nottingham City Council ...............................................................30 Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service ................................7, 30 Nottinghamshire Police .....................................................................7 Openhouse Products Ltd...................................................................7 Oxley and Coward Solicitors...........................................................56 Paramed UK......................................................................................30 Peli Products .....................................................................................69 PPSS...................................................................................................69 Premier Hazard.................................................................................16 Primetech ..........................................................................................30 Professional Recovery Tow Show....................................................12 Reach and Rescue Ltd......................................................................67 Red Box Recorders ...........................................................................64

Renovo ...............................................................................................62 Roadhawk ..........................................................................................28 Roke Manor Research ......................................................................65 Royal Bank of Scotland....................................................................57 Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service ......................................44 RSG Engineering Ltd ......................................................................30 Sabio...................................................................................................57 Scania .................................................................................................56 Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service ...............................27 SEBEV Search & Rescue ...................................................................4 Sepura ................................................................................................64 South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) ..................................8, 56, 57 South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust ..............................................................4, 6 South Yorkshire Police.....................................................................57 SP Services ........................................................................................70 SSi Solutions .......................................................................................6 St John Ambulance ....................................................................32, 56 Staffordshire Police ..........................................................................64 Steria ..................................................................................................64 Stone Group ......................................................................................60 Surrey Police .................................................................................6, 57 Sussex Police .....................................................................................57 Sussex Search and Rescue (SusSAR) .............................................57 The AA ..............................................................................................32 Timico................................................................................................64 Toyota.................................................................................................27 UK Rescue Challenge London 2011 ..............................................12 UK Rescue Organisation (UKRO) .................................................12 University of Bristol.........................................................................56 University of the West of England....................................................7 Virgin Media Business .....................................................................62 WAS Group .........................................................................................7 West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) .........6, 36, 48, 57, 58 West Midlands Fire Service.............................................................58 West Midlands Police.........................................................................6 West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority .....................................6 West Yorkshire Police.......................................................................56 Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service..................................................64 Wiltshire Police.................................................................................64 WL Gore & Associates.....................................................................55 YDS Boots .........................................................................................70 Yorkshire Ambulance Service .........................................................57 ZOLL.................................................................................................57

Company Name

Company Name

Advertisers Company Name

Page No

Airwave ...........................................................................................IFC

Page No

Hall’s Electrical Ltd .........................................................................42

Page No

RSG Engineering Limited...............................................................40

Anderco Safety ..................................................................................39

Haztec International.........................................................................29

SP Services..............................................................................OBC, 63

Auto Matters .....................................................................................37

Intramark Ltd ...................................................................................68

Strongs Plastic Products ..................................................................31

Avon Inflatables / Zodiac.................................................................31

Kussmaul Electronics Co Inc..........................................................40

Tempus Computers...........................................................................61

Babcock International......................................................................17

Lakeside Films..................................................................................46

Thomas Jacks ....................................................................................61

bott .....................................................................................................46

Land Rover..........................................................................................5

British Red Cross..............................................................................63

Lyon Equipment Limited .........................................................51, 53

Depot Rail Ltd (Firexpress) ............................................................22

MixTelematics ...................................................................................18

DMS technologies ............................................................................40

AY Morton & Co Ltd.......................................................................40

Dometic .............................................................................................42

Niton Equipment..............................................................................68

Emergency Planning College ..........................................................65

Peli Products (UK) Ltd .....................................................................9

Tracerco..............................................................................................59 TRAKA..............................................................................................45 University of Leicester.....................................................................67 Vauxhall Special Vehicles.................................................................41 Volvo...................................................................................................35 VW Group ....................................................................................36/37

The Emergency Services Show 2011..............................................11

Premier Hazard ......................................................................OFC, 26

Falck...................................................................................................14

Professional Recovery Tow Show.................................................IBC

W L Gore & Associates....................................................................55 WILL-BURT ....................................................................................45

Fenland Laundries Limited............................................................61

Primetech ..........................................................................................38

Finer Filters Ltd...............................................................................42

Red Box Recorders Limited..............................................................9

Woodway Engineering .....................................................................22

Gateshead College.............................................................................17

Ringway Vehicle Graphics...............................................................25

Workwear and Corporate Clothing Show ........................................6

Emergency Services Times August 2011

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Volume No: 12 Date:

Issue No: 03 August 2011

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FIRST WORDS | 3

A wake up call to terrorism To help this sector cope with this environment and overcome future challenges, close working relationships with partners is vital.

Networking and collaboration with suppliers, colleagues and contemporaries is, and will Breivik, a 32-year-old rightcontinue to be, an essential part of wing extremist, killed 77 ensuring an emergency is dealt with people in Norway’s worst as efficiently and effectively as violence since World War II – possible; The Emergency Services eight people died in the Oslo Show and Conference 2011, bomb blast of 22 July and, just David Brown, Event Director facilitates this necessary The Emergency Services Show 2011 two hours later, 69 youth communication by bringing together members of Norway’s Labour Party were shot everyone involved in emergency situations. dead by Breivik while they were attending a summer camp on Utoya island; the rampage went on for two hours.

Firmly established Taking place from 23-24 November at Stoneleigh The handling of the attacks by the Norwegian Park in Coventry, The Emergency Services Show is police has been called into question as it took them the key event for anyone involved in emergency an hour to reach Utoya, with the lack of a planning, response or recovery, in the UK and helicopter to take them there cited as a key abroad. Now in its sixth year, this firmly established problem. The police have said that they have, and annual show promotes multi agency collaboration will continue to review their operation, but they by bringing together all stakeholders involved in an have said that it was the quickest response they emergency – from the strategic planners and first could make. Clearly, an attack of this nature would responders, to the manufacturers and suppliers of stretch emergency responders’ resources to the equipment and services used by these leading maximum, with two attacks, in two different professionals. Especially relevant at a time when geographical locations, happening within hours of budgets are being squeezed, this free to attend each other. The right equipment, services, training exhibition helps facilitate and share information and and emergency plans, among other things, are good practice, and provides a platform to consider essential for the responders to deal with a disaster innovative and creative ways for emergency of this magnitude in a coherent and timely manner. personnel, planning officers and resilience Breivik’s sickening rampage has provided a professionals to work together in the future. frightening wake up call to the emergency services As England continues to tidy up and repair its worldwide on how they would handle a similar streets following the riots, the ‘spotlight’ shines on situation. While many countries are still on the role that the emergency services play in society. heightened security since the death of Osama bin Frightened and concerned citizens are looking at Laden, it would seem that a ‘new’ type of terrorism emergency and resilience professionals to protect threat has emerged – the ‘home grown’ terrorist. them. Despite budget cuts, impending reforms and This is a harsh reality for both law-abiding citizens stretched resources, emergency services personnel and emergency services professionals who carry provide us with a service that is crucial to the out their every day duties to ensure public safety in normal continuation of everyday life. These our communities. professionals need ongoing support both from the Government and community; it is my hope that Networking and collaboration The Emergency Services Show – It is clear that counter-terrorism plans need to be www.emergencyuk.com – provides you with a updated and emergency plans put in place that platform to network with your colleagues, suppliers involve all segments of society as well as many and contemporaries, to unite and address these government agencies. Additionally, the impact of threats and challenges, with the ultimate goal of a changing policies and reduced global budgets will safer tomorrow. make it essential for emergency services and David Brown, Event Director associated agencies to continue to work The Emergency Services Show 2011 collaboratively to ensure public safety and security.

In the wake of the attacks carried out by Anders Breivik in Norway - fears are growing that terrorism from far-Right extremists is becoming a real threat worldwide.

Emergency Services Times August 2011

4 | NEWS

In brief . . .

The Audit Commission will outsource all its in-house local public audit work to the private sector in the next financial year, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has announced. Ministers have determined this approach should offer the best value for money. This follows the decision to disband the Audit Commission last year, which will refocus audit on helping local people hold their councils to account for local spending decisions. The Commission has already been asked to begin substantive preparations for outsourcing. The contracts, which start from 2012-13, are expected to run for three or five years giving local councils and other public bodies the time to plan for appointing their own auditors. www.communities.gov.uk

SEBEV Search & Rescue team, based in Berkshire, has received a grant of £10,000 from the Awards for All, Big Lottery Fund. The grant will be used to overhaul the team’s navigation systems, providing new GPS (Global Positioning System) units as well as the technology to track the search teams in real-time, up-to-date mapping software and new laptops on which to run it all. The grant will also enable the team to purchase the sophisticated search and rescue management software packages SARMAN and Quo. All the software and hardware will be purchased from Mapyx UK, which supplies specialist mapping technology to many UK search and rescue teams. www.sebev.co.uk

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with Solutions Training & Advisory Ltd, has launched the first ever internetbased conflict resolution training course for its Community First Responders. The course has been specifically designed to equip the hundreds of community responders operating across the trust area with the skills to recognise when people may show signs of aggression, along with how to resolve potentially challenging situations. The internetbased approach means that the responders can access the course at any time or place where there is internet access at their own pace and convenience. This enables all responders to be trained quickly and cost effectively, while ensuring that the e-learning package adequately meets their needs. www.swast.nhs.uk

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Fire control link up is a step towards further collaboration in Wales Minister for Local Government and Communities Carl Sargeant AM visited the Joint Communications Centre at St Asaph on 27 June to officially launch a new collaborative project between the three command and control operations of all three fire and rescue services in Wales.

The project sees the three fire and rescue services operating a seamless system of mutual support, which will not only benefit the people of Wales but is also at the very forefront of collaborative working in the UK. This follows a significant change recently in the operational and regulatory environments within which the fire and rescue services operate, with implications for both frontline firefighters and the command and control operations that receive emergency 999 calls.

Funded via a grant from the Welsh Government, the resilience project began in late 2009 and has involved upgrading all the computer and communication systems used to process emergency 999 calls at the three fire and rescue service control rooms in Wales and linking them together. As a result, in the unlikely event of a serious system failure at any of the fire and rescue service control rooms, or if any receives significantly higher call volumes as can occur in times of high activity such as flooding or gorse fires,

then one of the other two control rooms can automatically receive and process its 999 calls from the public.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Colin Hanks, who led the project for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said, “The delivery of this all Wales resilience project is a significant step towards collaborative working that will undoubtedly benefit all of our communities. As well as our work with local partners North Wales Police in the Joint Communications Centre, we have now linked up with our colleagues in Mid and West Wales and South Wales to provide a seamless system of mutual support that means we are leading the way in the UK in terms of collaborative working.

“This collaborative control room project will also generally improve the ability of the fire and rescue ser-

vices in Wales to offer each other mutual assistance in operationally difficult conditions, including the shared availability of fire crews and appliances.”

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service has shared an operational floor with North Wales Police since October 2008. There is now a concerted move for greater collaboration between all the ‘blue light’ emergency control rooms in Wales in order to secure service delivery improvements and efficiency benefits. The fire and rescue service project is considered to be a preliminary step towards this longer-term objective.

The fire and rescue service control room resilience project has cost just over £1.8m and went live on 19 May 2011. www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk

Joint initiative leads to jail for arsonist A two-year investigation by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) and Merseyside Police has led to the conviction of Elliot Ross, who was jailed recently for five and a half years at Liverpool Crown Court after being found guilty of arson and making fraudulent insurance claims of over £200,000 in relation to a fire at Floorcoverings, in Knowsley Industrial Estate.

Mark Schuler, from MFRS, and DC Karen Nixon, from Merseyside Police, led the hunt for the arsonist, which turned out to be the most in-depth investigation the joint police/fire team has ever undertaken together. More than 10,000 paper exhibits were examined, over 120 statements taken and the pair spoke to people as far away as Hong Kong and South America to piece together the evidence and find their suspect.

Acting Chief Fire Officer Mike Hagen said, “It is testament to the skills and tenacity of the team that a conviction was secured. This fire

(From L to R) Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe, Merseyside Police; Detective Constable Karen Nixon, Merseyside Police; Fire Marshal Mark Schuler, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service; and Acting Chief Fire Officer Mike Hagen, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

caused over a million pounds worth of damage to businesses in the area, some of which have never recovered.

We’re pleased we were able to bring the perpetrator to justice and all this was done through the burnt remains of a barbecue.”

Firefighters were called to the scene at around 9:00pm on 19 August 2009 after disposable BBQs were set alight on top of pallets outside the building and on the window ledge.

Twelve appliances attended and were on site for several days extinguishing

Emergency Services Times August 2011

the blaze and damping down. Merseyside’s Flare team was set up two years ago to look into commercial arson and is one of the first teams of its kind in the country. It comprises police detectives and fire and rescue service investigators who will undertake activities to prevent future fires, reducing the demands on emergency services. They will investigate those arson incidents that do occur with a view to prosecuting identified offenders.

The joint initiative between MFRS and Merseyside Police aims to warn owners of commercial properties that arson is not the easy way out and offenders will be putting lives and their liberty in danger. The team, working with other partners, will develop an ‘early warning system’ to identify vulnerable premises by researching the telltale signs, such as failed development applications, surrender of licenses and notification of bankruptcy. www.merseyfire.gov.uk

6 | NEWS

In brief . . .

The ‘Valuing Police Preparedness’ report published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies (HMIC) praises Surrey Police and the Surrey Police Authority for good financial planning resulting in the force being the only one in the country increasing frontline officer numbers at a time of national cuts. The report notes that Surrey Police had recognised the impact anticipated cuts may have on services to local communities and had taken action to mitigate it by carrying out sweeping changes over the last two years including a move to centralised management, cuts to back-office functions, a review of the force estate and the reduction of senior leaders in favour of frontline constables.

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Royal praise for ambulance crews Cycle response who responded to riots unit for Plymouth is a huge success

www.surrey.police.uk

Police stations across Birmingham, the Black Country and Coventry are now the proud owners of life saving kits thanks to partnership working between West Midlands Ambulance Service and West Midlands Police. In recent months, almost 4000 police staff have been trained in basic life support and how to use their new automated external defibrillators (AEDs); a vital piece of lifesaving equipment to help someone in cardiac arrest. The region’s custody sergeants, escort detention officers and police officers alike are now primed and ready if a colleague or member of the public suffers a cardiac arrest. www.wmas.nhs.uk

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority has set up a powerful new task force to oversee the brigade’s efforts to drive down fire risk and reorganise itself to meet unprecedented financial challenge.

The fire authority stands to lose around £18m over the next four years due to cutbacks in central government grants.

Led by Councillor Andrea McKenna, the authority’s new Community Safety Committee has been given wide ranging powers to interrogate operational planning and performance. www.westyorksfire.gov.uk

Residents across Cheshire can now view the latest information about fires and incidents in their area following the launch of a detailed fire and rescue service interactive online map developed by SSi Solutions. All visitors to Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s award-winning website (www.cheshirefire.gov.uk) will be able to see what incidents have occurred in their community each month by entering their postcode or the name of their local fire station. www.cheshirefire.gov.uk

The Prince jokes with NWAS staff.

Prince Harry has praised dedicated workers from North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust who attended the riots in Manchester and Salford. On a recent visit to Salford Ambulance Station the Prince exchanged stories with ambulance workers from the frontline and control centres that responded to almost 30 separate incidents related to the disturbances.

He listened intently as an ambulance crew explained that they had come under fire from rioters throwing missiles. Emergency Medical Technician 2, Neil Bruckshaw, took along his

two-year-old son, also called Harry, to meet the Prince. He said, “It was an honour to meet the prince. We don’t often get recognition for the work we do but he took a real interest in our work.”

Prince Harry expressed his thanks for the dedication shown by all involved. His visit was part of a tour of the emergency services in Salford, which also saw the Prince visit Greater Manchester Police and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service. www.nwas.nhs.uk

London 2012’s critical communications ready for service Airwave has announced that the private mobile radio (PMR) service infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is ready for service. The PMR network, named Apollo, will provide voice communications for over 18,000 staff and volunteers from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) during the 2012 Games.

Apollo has been purpose-built to provide mobile radio to all London 2012 competition venues from the Olympic Park itself to sites across the country from Glasgow and Manchester to Coventry and Weymouth.

The stand-alone network is now ready for operation and will be used

by Games staff and volunteers, from stewards and security personnel to anti-doping officials, from now until December 2012.

Apollo has already gone through rigorous testing by Airwave. It will

now take part in several test events with LOCOG, many of which will be at London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues for the first time, as part of preparations to test key aspects of operational readiness for the Games.

Airwave successfully completed the first land-to-sea testing of Apollo in Dorset recently. David Sangster, UK Services Director at Airwave, said, “It is the first time that we have performed land-to-sea coverage testing of a radio network and this followed months of planning by our team of engineers. With the upcoming sailing events for London 2012 taking place in Dorset it is vital that we provide a world-class PMR network.”

The sea off Dorset’s coast will play host to all the sailing events for London 2012 between July and September 2012. www.airwavesolutions.co.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

With a population of around 250,000, Plymouth is currently one of the biggest and busiest urban areas covered by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWAST), which serves Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset and Somerset.

In order to best meet the needs of patients and provide a variety of ways in which the service responds, a Cycle Response Unit (CRU) was launched recently in Plymouth City Centre. The unit consists of two fully equipped cycles staffed by paramedics, and will be used all year round during peak times of activity.

The launch of the CRU is helping the trust to achieve its mission – to respond quickly and safely to save lives, reduce anxiety, pain and suffering.

Similar cycle units operating around the country have not only been key in the delivery of pre-hospital care, they have also assisted in reducing the carbon footprint of organisations.

Weymouth in Dorset has run a very effective ambulance CRU during the summer months and other periods of peak activity in recent years and it is hoped that this will resume in the near future, with a view to using it during the 2012 Games, as the sailing events will be based at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA). There has already been some very positive feedback about the CRU scheme from patients, and many local businesses in Plymouth have pledged their support and sponsorship.

The versatility of the CRU and the amount of kit they are able to accommodate on the bikes means that these resources are not limited to attending only selected incidents. www.swast.nhs.uk

NEWS | 7

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Queen’s Medal launched for ambulance workers Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced a new Queen’s Ambulance Service Medal, which will distinguish exemplary service from ambulance workers in the NHS. The ambulance service now joins the police and fire emergency services in having a prestigious medal for outstanding service. The medal will recognise those with an exceptional devotion to duty - those whose service is marked by outstanding ability, merit and exemplary conduct.

Andrew Lansley said, “We are all grateful to our local ambulance service

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

which helps people in distress at every level – from minor injuries to road accidents and even major national incidents. This medal will help us all to signal better our appreciation for and recognise the life-saving work that they carry out for the public every day.”

Peter Bradley CBE, National Ambulance Director, said, “Ambulance service staff deliver top quality care day in day out across the UK and I am delighted that, alongside the fire and police, the work of the ambulance service will be recognised on an equal footing. I encourage all ambulance trusts to put their nominations forward so that we can be proud to single out the efforts and exemplary conduct of our staff.”

The first medals will be awarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in Summer 2012.

Further information on the criteria for eligibility, along with details on how to nominate individuals for the medal, will be available on the Department of Health’s website. www.dh.gov.uk

HPA exercise tests for mass casualty incident

The emergency services in the East Midlands got a chance to put their procedures to the test on 5 July during Exercise Greystoke, on a scale that has never been done before in the region.

The exercise was developed by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), in tandem with the Department of Health and a team of planners from the region. Held at Loughborough University, the event included a liveplay section, where ambulance teams exercised their sieve and sort procedures, in combination with a strategic level command post exercise.

Local hospitals were involved through the Emergo element, which meant a team from each regional acute hospital was given a large number of notional patients to deal with, to evaluate their procedures in dealing with mass casualties.

“It was a challenge to combine so

many different elements in one exercise,” said David Dalby, Exercise Manager with the HPA. “We normally conduct one field exercise per year, without the Emergo and command post elements.

This is the first time we have ever delivered an exercise like this, but we have already established a lot of very useful learning points.”

Lindsey Beasley, Head of Emergency Planning, NHS East Midlands, said, “Exercise Greystoke is providing the East Midlands region with an opportunity to practise the planned response to a major incident involving a large number of casualties.”

Learning points from the exercise will now be compiled into a report, with recommendations based on observations during the exercise. www.hpa.org.uk

Academics work with suppliers on improving emergency care Openhouse Products Ltd and the WAS Group are working with experts at Loughborough University to develop new products for the emergency care sector.

The projects involve Loughborough’s Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety Research Unit (HEPSU), the University of the West of England and the Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust. HEPSU’s research focuses on equipping Emergency Care Practitioners (ECPs) with the specialist tools and vehicles needed to treat patients on the spot – cutting the number of people being taken to A&E. Department of Health research shows that up to 40 percent of patients in A&E could have been treated elsewhere. Based on detailed research into both the needs of patients and the operating practices of paramedics, Openhouse Products Ltd has produced Portable Pods, a

series of specially designed packs, each carrying equipment suitable for administering treatment in the most common emergency cases. The packs range from suture kits and tissue glue for minor wounds, to nebulisers and oxygen for breathing difficulties.

The academics are also working with the ambulance supplier WAS to design ergonomically sophisticated ambulance interiors, based on clinical studies of the ways in which Emergency Care Practitioners work.

HEPSU Director Sue Hignett said the university’s research had a crucial role to play in updating the design of emergency care equipment, to bring it into line with changes in the way healthcare is administered. The academics are now exploring other areas in which their research may benefit healthcare providers involved in urgent, pre-hospital assessment, such as nurses and out-of-hours GPs. www.lboro.ac.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

In brief . . .

Hughes Safety Showers has opened an additional manufacturing unit close to the company’s existing factory and head office in Bredbury, Stockport.

The new unit includes 40,000sqft of production space, office accommodation and training facilities.

Production of tank showers and the company’s premium range of unheated showers is now centred on the site together with fabrication, stores, dispatch and service. Research, development and engineering service, together with the manufacture of other products including decontamination equipment and rapid deployment emergency shelters remains at the original factory. www.hughes-safety-showers.co.uk

Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams from Kent, Norfolk and Essex joined forces recently to take part in an exercise aimed at testing their practices and how they work together.

The 14-hour Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) led event involved a simulated gas explosion in a concreteconstruction building with an unknown number of people missing. The exercise was held at KFRS’s Maidstone-based USAR centre, which includes a bespoke training rig with facilities for cutting through concrete, searching through rubble and specialist provisions for training to find trapped casualties.

Fifteen personnel from Kent, including a KFRS first-aider were joined by six from Essex and seven from Norfolk, as well officers from Kent Police. www.kent.fire-uk.org

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Ackerley of Nottinghamshire Police has praised three members of Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service for their roles in securing the arrest and conviction of an arsonist who targeted two city houses with petrol bombs. Fire Investigators Station Manager Andy Bettison (who has since retired) and Station Manager Stewart Key and Kevin Poxon from the Arson Task Force, have each received a Certificate of Recognition, acknowledging how they went above and beyond the call of duty in helping police officers to piece together evidence that led to the conviction of Andrew Stafford. Their evidence, coupled with information provided by the regional Fire Investigation dog Fudge and her handler Watch Manager Dave Coss (based at Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service) and specialist forensic evidence, helped to secure Stafford’s life sentence in 2008 for the attacks. www.notts-fire.gov.uk

8 | NEWS

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Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service sign partnership agreement with Falck

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) and Falck EMS UK Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop ways of working together as preferred partners. The MoU, which has been signed by Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell and the CEO of Falck A/S (the parent company of Falck EMS UK Ltd) Allan Søgaard Larsen, will see the two organisations come together for mutual benefit to the community, clients and customers.

In Issue 54 of ‘Alert’, the service’s news update for all DSFRS employees, Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell writes, ‘The intention behind this initiative is to reform the traditional nature of public sector provision through use of private sector expertise and, where appropriate, funding, in order to generate income from public and private partners. The income generated will be used to mitigate the impact of government grant reductions, which might otherwise have more of a significant effect on the service delivered to the public. We aim to create jobs locally as well as add value to businesses and organisations whilst still effectively protecting the public we serve.

‘Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has experience within the UK market. Our experience has been

borne out of the merger of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Services and in particular the changes brought about in the last two years to release the significant latent potential that was created through amalgamation.

‘In the last year we have grown an innovative, creative and commercially successful business model using our knowledge, skills and experience.

This was initially focused on specialist risk based training, but our ambition is to branch out into consultancy support, the provision of business support services (such as HR, Finance, IT and Procurement) and business process improvement.

‘We aim to continue to provide high quality public safety advice and response and the commercial arrangement with Falck may also provide staff with opportunities to work overseas as well as in non traditional areas where the skills we can provide are of commercial value. Any staff released to undertake such a role would have their positions backfilled, if necessary, to ensure that our focus on providing an efficient and effective fire and rescue service remains our top priority.

‘Work will now commence to further define specific opportunities.

Both the service and Falck retain

existing contractual and business relationships with other parties and are free to explore commercial opportunities with others. However, the Memorandum of Understanding builds on a strengthening relationship between both parties who aim to provide cost effective solutions to public and private sector organisations.

Where specific initiatives are to be jointly progressed, a commercial confidentiality agreement will be established for those specific areas.

‘This is the first agreement of its kind in the UK fire sector and forms a commercial framework bringing together the significant public services experience and credibility that Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service presents with the extensive private sector experience provided by Falck.

It is not about privatising Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. It is about learning from and working with a major private sector organisation to progress business opportunities that are of mutual benefit.

‘This is an exciting development which further demonstrates a desire, willingness and capability to rise to the challenge set by Government whilst reforming and protecting traditional values and public expectations at the same time’.

Falck is a global service company providing emergency, healthcare, training and assistance services, including fire fighting, fire training, fire consultancy services and prehospital services to public and industrial sectors.

Allan Søgaard Larsen said, “For decades Falck has provided fire fighting services to the majority of the Danish municipalities in close collaboration with the authorities. Based on both these and our international experiences we believe that both parties have much to gain from this public private partnership.”

Mark Healey Chairman of the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority said, “It is clear that public sector organisations have to think and operate differently in the future.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has a history of innovative and collaborative working and is working to raise money from the public and private sector to maintain and improve the way we deliver front line services.”

Together the two organisations will explore commercial opportunities in the UK fire sector. www.dsfire.gov.uk www.falck.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

New 999 triage system for South East Coast Ambulance control centres

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) has introduced a new 999 triage system helping patients access the best healthcare for their needs.

NHS Pathways, which replaces the American-based AMPDS 999 priority call system, is a sophisticated triage system, which prioritises calls based on the clinical symptoms of the patient. Linked to this system is a directory of services, which provides real-time information about the availability of alternative healthcare services across the region.

Distribution Manager, Dan Garratt said, “We know that many people find the NHS confusing and often call 999 out of desperation because they don’t know how to access the right service for their needs. All too often we get calls from people who say they don’t want an ambulance but didn’t know who to call.

“NHS Pathways and the directory of services allow us to help patients reach the right service for their clinical need while freeing up our ambulance clinicians to respond to more serious emergencies which require urgent medical attention.”

Depending on the answers provided by the 999 caller, an alternative healthcare provider may be suggested as the best service for the patient’s clinical need. If such an alternative healthcare provider is suggested, the call taker will be able to advise the 999 caller where and how they can access this service. This may be to make an appointment with their local GP surgery, attend their nearest walk in centre or minor injuries unit.

Supporting this new approach, clinical advisors, who are all paramedics or nurses, are also on hand in SECAmb control centres should additional advice be required. www.secamb.nhs.uk

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Emergency Services Times August 2011

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10 | EVENTS

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Emergency and resilience professionals unite in Glasgow Emergency and resilience professionals from the length and breadth of Scotland, as well as from across the UK, united at a new event held from 5-6 July at The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow. The new exhibition, Emergency Scotland 2011, took place alongside the EPS Resilience Symposium: Condition Critical 2011, bringing emergency and resilience professionals together under one roof.

Emergency Scotland 2011 featured some 120 exhibitors and over 1300 visitors and symposium delegates attended the event over the course of the two days.

David Brown, Show Organiser for Emergency Scotland 2011, said, “We are delighted that the first Emergency Scotland 2011 exhibition has been so well received by visitors, exhibitors and Symposium delegates. As well as allowing exhibitors the chance to showcase their latest products and services, the exhibition provided an ideal way for resilience and emergency professionals to discuss cooperation, ideas and initiatives, as well as learn from each other in preparation for both planned and unplanned events.

“As the organisers of The Emergency Services Show, we are delighted to be able to provide a complementary event aimed at emergency and resilience professionals in Scotland and the surrounding area.”

at present but each of the Scottish fire authorities recognises the need for innovation and working more closely with our key stakeholders and suppliers. This event allows us to engage with our key partners and to review new emerging technologies in order to deliver a modern future fire service in Scotland.”

Live demonstrations Over the course of the two days a number of product and service demonstrations took place including Civil Defence Scotland demonstrating its rope rescuing skills, Strathclyde Fire & Rescue allowing visitors to experience its 3D technological training innovations and Angloco displaying the capabilities of its fire fighting and rescue vehicles.

The unique Emergency Response Zone – made up of police, fire and rescue, ambulance, professional, government and voluntary organisations – provided a key opportunity for visitors to ‘open their eyes’ to the capabilities of partnering agencies and the voluntary sector.

Emergency Scotland is Scotland’s only exhibition for anyone involved in emergency planning, response or recovery. Keep an eye on www.emergencyscotland.com for details of the next Emergency Scotland event.

Visitor, Sandra M Brown, from Milngavie Community First Responders, said the event was, “A great opportunity to link in with colleagues from a wide range of emergency services, which cannot fail to enhance excellent individual and collaborative practices for the benefit of all.” While Iain Morris, from Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, added, “The Scottish fire and rescue services are currently facing a period of transformation and uncertainty with a number of significant challenges in the near future. The outlook is certainly unclear

EPS Symposium Marc Beveridge, Chair of the Emergency Planning Society, said, “If you read this having attended the Symposium I would like to thank you for attending; amazing speakers from around the world, captivating subjects, great networking and a fantastic audience made this our most successful event ever.

“We, again, acknowledged the talent, innovation and excellence in our profession at the 2011 Resilience Awards. I would like to congratulate all the winners and the shortlisted nominations. Not everyone walked away with a piece of crystal that evening but in our profession you were all winners,

each and every one making a contribution to building business and community resilience, and more importantly, our profession.”

Symposium delegate, Kevin Claxton FEPS, said, “Wow, what a conference the EPS ‘Resilience Symposium’ in Glasgow was for its members. Attendees will agree that reflecting on the very high calibre of speakers this year has provided much ‘food for thought’.

“Bob Parker (Mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand) commented on the need to break through complacency. Christchurch had perceived itself as being in a low-risk seismic area. Whilst much of the audience shed a tear or two at the candour of his presentation, he emphasised the need for planners to find ways to break down the barriers to executives prepared to gamble that ‘it won’t happen on their watch’, because ‘it did happen’.

“In all, the event was valuable and represented good value in enhancing multi-agency preparedness, the profile and reputation of delegates’ organisations and the individual skill and experience levels of those attending. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event!”

The Emergency Services Show 2011 This year, the team behind Emergency Scotland will also be holding its annual UK emergency services event, the Emergency Services Show and Conference 2011. With over 380 exhibitors and approximately 4000 visitors attending the successful exhibition last year, the show is one of the key events for anyone involved in emergency planning, response or recovery, both in the UK and abroad.

This year’s show and conference will be taking place on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 November at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry. To register for your FREE visitor pass or to learn more about attending or exhibiting at The Emergency Services Show and Conference 2011, please visit the event’s new website – www.emergencyuk.com. www.emergencyuk.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

12 | EVENTS

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London in countdown for Tow Show national rescue challenge interest is London Fire Brigade (LFB) is preparing to welcome fire and rescue services from across the UK to this year’s UK Rescue Challenge London 2011, to be hosted by the brigade from 23-24 September at London’s Excel. The event will see firefighters from over 30 fire brigades covering England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales carrying out a series of high intensity rescues. Demonstrating their expert skills and equipment, the teams will have their extrication, rope, USAR and trauma capabilities tested to the limit.

In addition to the challenges, the free event will also feature a community safety village where the public will be able to learn about how to prevent and escape from fires; a trade exhibition with representatives from the key fire industry organisations and a rescue skills conference.

Various real-live demonstrations such as fires, fire investigation dogs and water rescues using boats will also be taking place throughout the event.

Challenges Across the country, fire crews now attend around 180 different rescues a day. The UK Rescue Challenge London 2011, hosted by LFB on behalf of UK Rescue Organisation (UKRO), aims to advance the way firefighters carry out rescues at real incidents and highlight how the job of a firefighter is now about far more than just putting out fires.

With complex rescues in extrication, trauma, rope and USAR, fire crews will be putting their rescue skills to the test, from cutting out trapped casualties out of crashed cars and providing emergency medical care, to rescuing people from cranes and collapsed buildings. Over 60 teams from fire and rescue services across the UK have already signed up to participate in the national challenge.

London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Steve Hamm, in charge of firefighter training, said, “Fire crews across the country are attending numerous rescues every day. Putting our firefighters’ skills to the test against other brigades will help make sure that when we are called in to action, we’re as ready as we can be.

“By participating in this event, our firefighters get a chance to hone their skills, test new equipment

building Organised by Professional Recovery magazine, The Professional Recovery Tow Show runs from Friday 30 September to Saturday 1 October, with an industry seminar on the set up day, Thursday 29 September.

National issues Organisers are keen to highlight national issues such as the Heavy Rescue Partnership, which works to involve recovery operators’ unique lifting equipment at the scene of major motorway incidents at an early stage. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service claims that the scheme has saved countless lives already and its leader, Peter Dartford is keen to broaden the scheme to other areas.

and try new ways of rescuing people. Different brigades get to learn from each other and this helps improve how we rescue casualties at real incidents.”

Exhibition A large trade exhibition covering over 1600sqm will be running alongside the rescue challenges and the community safety village. Organisations from across the emergency and rescue sectors, including Holmatro and Weber Rescue UK, will be displaying their services and equipment.

Rescue conference Taking place on Friday 23 September, the conference ‘Preparing for tomorrow’s challenges’ will focus on five disciplines: trauma, line rescue, extrication, water rescue and Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and will address the ways in which rescue agencies work together in partnership during major incidents or natural disasters.

Speakers from the British Association of Immediate Care (BASICS), the Royal Marines, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the Emergency Response and Rescue Texas Engineering Extension Service, HART and Outreach Rescue will be sharing their experience in identifying the challenges that face rescue work in the 21st Century. Chief Fire Officer from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Roy Wilsher will also be outlining the lessons learnt from Japan’s recent natural disaster and the rescue efforts by the UK’s crews. www.london-fire.gov.uk/UKRescueChallenge2011

The Professional Recovery Tow Show will attempt to highlight national issues as well as showcasing the technology in an industry that works alongside the emergency services every day of its working life. Every level of truck technology will come under the spotlight from the lightweight 3.5 slidebeds to the massive heavyweight rotators used on the scene of major road incidents that can lift loads of up to 40 tonnes.

Recovery sector Electric vehicles are also on the agenda and the Society of Motor Trade Manufacturers (SMMT) will be exhibiting at the show with the specific intent of making operators aware of the unique dangers of dealing with EVs. They may have a fraction of the moving parts of conventional vehicles, but EVs are loaded with high voltage and the SMMT along with the IMI are keen to highlight these issues facing not only the recovery industry but also the emergency services.

The vehicle recovery sector is busy working towards self-regulation; it is eager to meet with other stakeholders and an example of this is how they have worked with both Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Staffordshire Constabulary in joint consultation to the Freight Transport APPG. The Professional Recovery Tow Show has over 60 exhibitors showcasing the aftermarket sector with high-tech lifting equipment and the latest diagnostics alongside the latest technology in trucks – it might well be worth a visit. www.recoverytowshow.co.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

EVENTS | 13

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Challenging times The past couple of months have seen the English emergency services stretched to capacity. What started as a protest outside Tottenham police station on High Road following the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, soon escalated into unprecedented public disorder that spread across the nation. Police cars set alight, police officers and police dogs injured, fire crews dealing with arson attacks, murder investigations, not to mention mass vandalism and looting – it was clear that this was an emergency on an extraordinary scale.

In early August, police, fire and rescue, and ambulance services were forced to deal with riots that escalated and spread to major towns throughout England. One moment a disturbance would be taking place in a town centre and then in the next, 10 miles down the road, another riot would have emerged in an industrial estate.

Despite budget cuts and being stretched to full capacity, the emergency professionals dealt with the situation with courage and tenacity. Needless to say, it was essential for the emergency services professionals involved in dealing with these incidents to carry out careful multi-agency collaboration to ensure the riots were contained and the damage minimised. In some instances, fire crews needed urgent police assistance with rioters in order to tackle a blaze. The professionals worked together in unison with one common goal – public safety.

Photo: Getty Images News | Dan Kitwood.

Services united As further rioting emerged over a strained 72hour period, police forces across the country united to provide support to their colleagues, with specialist officers providing back-up both during

Photo: Lewis Whyld | Press Association.

and after the riots. This rapid mobilisation of officers allowed an increased visible presence of the police, which helped curtail any future violent rampages. A bolstered police presence remained in place throughout the following weeks and over the Bank Holiday weekend, to help police the streets.

Nonetheless politicians continue to talk about cutting waste and inefficiency from the 43 forces in England and Wales, despite officers fighting back insisting they have already been stripped to the bone and cannot make further savings without stopping some of their vital functions. Cooperation and potential sharing of resources during this time may help forces during these challenging times.

Many people have argued that social media helped inflame the riots, used as it was by the rioters as a tool to communicate on a mass scale.

There is no arguing that the digital platforms that Twitter and Facebook provide are a fast and direct method to spread a message, even if some of these messages were ‘inflammatory’ or ‘inaccurate’.

Nevertheless social media in these instances has

The Emergency Services Show 2011 Date: Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 November Location: Stoneleigh Park, Coventry Website: www.emergencyuk.com The Emergency Services Show is the key event for anyone involved in emergency planning, response or recovery, in the UK and abroad. Now in its sixth year, this firmly established annual show promotes multi-agency collaboration by bringing together everyone involved in an emergency – from the strategic planners and first responders, to the manufacturers and suppliers of equipment and services used by these leading professionals. Especially at a time when budgets are being squeezed, this free to attend exhibition helps facilitate and share information and good practice, and provides a platform to consider innovative and creative ways for emergency personnel, planning officers and resilience professionals to work together in the future.

To find out further information and to register for your FREE visitor pass please visit www.emergencyuk.com

now become an essential asset for detectives looking to convict rioters as it provides a good source of real-time evidence. The Blackberry Messenger (BBM) was pinpointed as a means of mobilising looters, as a key difficulty for law enforcers is cracking the level of encryption on the BBM system.

What was made apparent during the riots was the large role social media has in today’s society – an area that emergency and resilience professionals will need to continually adapt to in these challenging environments. It should be noted that social media also facilitated some positive communication, such as the Twitter page ‘Riot Clean up’ and the Facebook page ‘We Love London’, both of which helped mobilise positive community involvement, helping to rebuild communities following the damage caused. ‘Big Society’ evolved as citizens drew together for one common good, ‘recovery of the community and to make a difference’ – the good work of voluntary and community groups highlighted in what was a bleak and depressing task.

Collaboration is key As I write, magistrate and crown courts are passing judgement on many of the individuals arrested at these riots, a process that was at one stage happening both day and night. The riots may have passed but the aftermath of the events is ongoing. Lessons learnt and ongoing investigations need to continue and networking and collaboration between all of those involved in an emergency will remain pivotal to ensure that events like these are minimised in the future. www.emergencyuk.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Author: David Brown, Show Organiser, The Emergency Services Show 2011

PROFILE | 15

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New home for Firebuy frameworks After months of uncertainty, Firebuy’s framework contracts were finally transferred to The Consortium on 1 June 2011.

Since then, The Consortium has been busy meeting with customers and suppliers to effectively ‘re-launch’ the contracts under the new brand – the team had a stand at the Emergency Scotland 2011 exhibition in July and will also be supporting The Emergency Services Show 2011 at Stoneleigh in November.

The Consortium for Purchasing and Distribution Limited has 40 years of public procurement experience. It was formed as a local authority supplies organisation and, while it has been a private organisation since 1995, it retains a deep understanding of the interplay between EU procurement rules and local standing orders.

It adds to this understanding, a highly commercial approach and an absolute commitment to customer service.

Why offer a suite of frameworks?

Framework contracts are a great tool for reducing duplication and timescales but they are no substitute for good procurement.

The Consortium is a professional procurement and fulfilment business that takes the process seriously. We work hard to understand supply markets and to encourage a competitive and responsive environment to exist in advance of any tendering exercise. We audit potential suppliers and ensure that only robust and capable suppliers are included on framework agreements. We establish award criteria and mechanisms for minicompetitions that allow flexibility but also ensure value for money is delivered throughout the life of the contract.

“The Consortium seeks to make buying the things you need as easy as possible.”

Suppliers only value a framework if they have confidence that the framework will be properly marketed and gain widespread support. The Consortium will only put a framework together if there is a strong business case to do so. In this way, suppliers should increasingly improve the competitiveness of their offer and customers should increasingly recognise the value of using a framework. This process can take time but we are fortunate to have taken over a number of very strong frameworks on which to build.

Why choose The Consortium?

In a sector crowded with consortia and procurement groups, The Consortium is unique in being a private sector organisation. This gives it a degree of flexibility that its public sector counterparts do not possess. This flexibility allows The Consortium to tailor its offer to mirror the diverse way in which procurement is handled across the public sector.

The Consortium seeks to make buying the things you need as easy as possible. Whether you have access to a dedicated professional procurement team or you are someone wearing a multitude of hats, The Consortium can tailor its support to suit. You may be perfectly happy to design and run your own mini-competition process from start to finish or you may want us to work with you to design the process and then run it for you.

Whatever the level of support you need, The Consortium is happy to provide it. To us, the only thing that matters is that you secure the best possible deal for your organisation as a result of using of our frameworks.

We don’t view our work as being complete at the point a framework contract is let. It is only of any value to the suppliers, the emergency services sector and us if a framework delivers value for money through extensive use. Extensive use means having repeat customers and repeat customers come from satisfied customers. To that end, The Consortium carries out ongoing contract management for all frameworks covering: supplier performance – from regularly checking financial stability to following up delivery issues or quality problems; price monitoring and review – ensuring accurate and up to date information is available and that price movements are in line with agreed mechanisms; and product update – ensuring that product lists keep up with market developments (within the constraints of the framework).

Who can benefit from the Firebuy frameworks?

While many of the frameworks have been designed specifically for the fire and rescue service, there are a good number of contracts that are available to, and used by, the wider public service.

By using these framework customers benefit from: 1. Significant aggregated volumes 2. Fully EU procurement compliant contract 3. Pre-agreed terms and conditions.

Here are some of the highlights: • Fire Extinguishers, Fire Blankets, Hose Reels and Fire Safety Training – Total spend on this contract is around £4m pa. There is a choice of suppliers covering over 1700 different products.

This gives you the ability to select the best supplier for your particular needs • Smoke Alarms and CO2 Detectors – Total spend on this contract is around £10m pa. There is a choice of suppliers offering a wide range of battery operated alarms and detectors, including products to assist people who are hard of hearing and/or visually impaired • Hand Held Radios – Total spend on this contract is around £1m pa. There is a choice of suppliers covering a wide range of products, including: analogue and digital hand held radios, submersibles, base stations and servicing and maintenance

Key contacts: Mark Herrington – the main contact for potential or existing customers and suppliers.

E-mail: mark.herrington@theconsortium.co.uk Alan Paulinski – the main contact for customers requiring technical support around vehicles and equipment carried on vehicles.

E-mail: alan.paulinski@theconsortium.co.uk • Respiratory Protection – Self Contained Breathing Apparatus and Telemetry – Total spend on this contract is around £4m pa.

Products have been pre-trialled to confirm their fitness for purpose. A choice of suppliers is available to recognise the needs of different operational environments. There are 1300 products available on this framework • Specialist Vehicle Capability – This was a pangovernment procurement designed to meet the diverse needs of the public sector. Vehicles purchased under the contract include: exhibition units, animal rescue vehicles, welfare units, command support units, large chassis, four wheel drive vehicles and light vans. With a wide range of chassis options and good range of experienced, proven bodybuilders you would be hard pressed not to find a solution to any vehicle modification requirement here. The contract even covers refurbishment to enable you to prolong the life, or change the use of existing vehicles.

The Consortium team: (From L to R) Melanie Teal, Chief Executive; Mark Herrington, Head of Services; Joe Caddell, Business Support Director; and Alan Paulinski, Technical Manager.

New website planned Firebuy from The Consortium aims to make accessing all 18 of its frameworks as easy as possible.

Work is underway to improve the existing website and a new website is planned for early 2012.

The team is keen to meet with existing and potential customers and suppliers to help us shape future contracts and the overall service we offer. www.firebuy.gov.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Author: Melanie Teal, Chief Executive, Firebuy from The Consortium.

16 | COMPANY PROFILE

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How innovation and technology assist policing With the ever increasing pressures of policing today – to have a more visible public presence, to respond to incidents faster and to gather information – it’s essential that innovation and technology provide the necessary assistance.

TriCore™, from Premier Hazard and the PSE group, is the latest design and generation of LED technology, and is now incorporated within police and key emergency vehicle lighting. TriCore™ generates more than twice the light output of other top end lightbars at critical points, such as intersections where many collisions are likely to occur. In addition, head-on, TriCore™ offers the longest range with the widest light spread.

“Designed to help in clearing the road for officers on rapid response or for warning of incidents, TriCore™ sets new standards.”

services sectors. With an investment of nearly £1.5m it has changed the level of expectation for police vehicle specification.

police vehicles, traffic enforcement applications, parking enforcement and anti-social behaviour occurrences.

High definition TriCore™ LED technology and PriZm2™ LED technologies are now available in Defender, Midimax, Lomax and Ultimax lightbars. Utilising a fully enclosed ‘high definition’ two-axis full zoom camera that can cover a full 360° on two axis, the camera can accommodate the majority of most needs. With a built in fan and integral heater, it can also be used in the majority of weather conditions.

This new style low-level dome camera lightbar is now used in many different applications, including

TriCore™: Safer, Smarter, Brighter!

To assist with surveillance and ANPR applications, the latest ‘low level’ ‘Dome Camera Lightbar’ is available in the Lomax lightbar.

Premier Hazard is a British company employing nearly 50 people, along with many others who work within its UK component supply chain. It is part of the PSE group that is based in Yorkshire. Other sister companies include Britax PMG Ltd, PSV Wipers Ltd, Code3, Kustom Signal, Signalisation, Britax Autozubehor GmbH and BAE Australia. www.premierhazard.co.uk

Setting new standards Designed to help in clearing the road for officers on rapid response or for warning of incidents, TriCore™ sets new standards. It is a clear leader within the ‘top-end’ automotive and emergency

Emergency Services Times August 2011

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Emergency Services Times August 2011

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VEHICLES | 19

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38th NAPFM event offers ‘opportunities for fleet collaboration’ The 38th National Association of Police Fleet Managers’ (NAPFM) Conference & Exhibition takes place at the Exec Exhibition Centre at Peterborough from 6-7 September 2011 and will be an ideal opportunity for the emergency services to identify savings in their budgets. It is one of the largest events of its type in Europe and is still seen by its delegates, exhibitors and visitors as ‘the event to attend’. However, these are challenging times.

It is strange that during difficult times in our lives new opportunities present themselves that mean we become stronger and more resilient. Currently, the public sector is going through a very difficult period having to find huge savings in its budget. As the police service strives to maintain frontline services all areas are being examined for opportunities to save money. Collaboration between forces and the other emergency services are being closely examined.

Merging of departments The Government has indicated that it has no plans for compulsory mergers of police forces and even voluntary mergers may still be some way off.

However, the merging or sharing of some departments and services has already started and others are likely to follow. The merger of some transport departments is a strong possibility.

Chiltern Transport, owned by its member forces, already looks after Thames Valley Police, Bedfordshire Police, Hertfordshire Constabulary and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and recently, Essex and Kent Police amalgamated their transport departments. Up and down the country forces are examining the options to save money.

In the area of transport the NAPFM, the National Strategic Ambulance Fleet Group and the Chief Fire Officers’ Association Transport Officers’ Group are working to identify opportunities to collaborate for the benefit of the three services and the public.

The NAPFM Event Team is pleased to announce that National Strategic Ambulance Fleet Group will be holding a seminar on Wednesday 7 September 2011 at the NAPFM Event. This seminar for members of the ambulance service fleet and procurement departments will provide an opportunity to combine a visit to the NAPFM Conference & Exhibition, which includes many shared suppliers.

Vehicles on show The vehicles on show at this year’s event will mainly fall into the new 18 categories of the NAPFM/NPIA framework. The event fills the two large halls at Exec and a large outdoor area. With over 130 exhibitors the event is certainly the ‘one stop fleet shop’ for those connected with ‘999’ transport.

The NAPFM exhibition has always been an opportunity for small companies to compete with the large international manufacturers; this year delegates and visitors have another great opportunity to see a wide range of exhibits from cycles to command vehicles and switches to signs.

The NAPFM is an invite only event; while we extend a warm invitation to those in the emergency

services, government and military the event is not open to the general public. This ensures a high quality of visitors allowing exhibitors to network with the major contacts from the visiting organisations.

This year’s conference programme includes a wide cross section of speakers and subjects recognising the needs of today’s fleet managers.

The subjects include: ACPO ITS ‘Single Vehicle Architecture’; tyre dynamics including the winter tyre debate; low emission and electric vehicles; global effects on fuel and the management of fuel budgets; and managing stress in the workplace. www.napfmevent.org.uk

Author: Mike Cripps, NAPFM Event Manager.

Battery protection DMS technologies has added a 24V Low Voltage Disconnect (LVD) unit to complement its initial 12V version. The Red Flash™ LVD unit is a low power device that can be used to protect batteries from damage and help extend battery life.

The LVD prevents over-discharge and subsequent damage of batteries, regardless of battery technology. There are now two models available, designed to operate on either 12V or 24V nominal voltages and have a factory default disconnect voltage of either 10.8V or 21.6V. The

disconnect voltage is very easy to set up, requiring only an adjustable power supply. The unit has a

very low residual current drain, particularly when compared with other LVD products.

The three state-of-charge LEDs adjust automatically when on load providing an accurate visual indication of remaining battery capacity.

These LVD units are ideal for use in specialist vehicles where the ancillary loads can be quite high and run the risk of over discharging the battery, especially when running in silent (engine off) mode. www.dmstech.co.uk

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Police fleet procurement – the emergency response The NPIA (National Policing Improvement Agency) works with police forces and senior officers to deliver national solutions. In fleet the NPIA has a dedicated fleet category team who work to deliver the objectives of the Collaborative Police Procurement Programme (CPPP) and are based in London. Fleet represents £100m annual spend and vehicles account for around £83m of this. approach and has sent a clear message to suppliers that we are procuring more collaboratively.

Specifically for fleet the NPIA works collaboratively with the NAPFM (National Association of Police Fleet Managers) who represent all the forces across the UK to deliver a consistent approach to fleet procurement. This relationship, supporting NAPFM as our key police customers, has been built up over the last decade and we all work with ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) to deliver a national category approach.

Police vehicle tyres The yearly spend on tyres is around £8m with a volume of 165,000 tyres purchased through the framework. Every force uses this framework and the proportion of supply only to supply and fit is approximately two to one. We continue to provide forces under the framework with ‘best in breed’ prices, which is challenging in the current financial climate of rising market costs.

Police vehicle purchase framework The new vehicle framework has been available since October 2010. For the first time a service-wide turnkey standardised ‘Beat’ vehicle has been put in place, using a standard specification which was produced with NAPFM, the Police Federation and ACPO Roads Policing all working together.

We continue to be committed to delivering savings to forces, and we estimate that if forces select the lowest price vehicles under the new frameworks, then £3.4m per annum savings could be delivered annually compared to prices paid previously. The contract was nominated and awarded the Government Business Award in recognition of the partnership achievements of this framework.

NPIA Vehicle Purchase Framework CATEGORY SUPPLIER A B C D BMW • • • Citroen Fiat Ford • • • General Motors • • • Honda Honda Motorcycles Hyundai • • Iveco Jaguar • Kawasaki Land Rover • • Mazda Mercedes Benz • Nissan • • Peugeot • • Piaggio Proton VW Group • • • • Subaru Suzuki Mitsubishi Motor Co. • • • Toyota Volvo • • • • Yamaha

Turnkey police car.

It has long been a desire to establish regional collaborations as they represent the best opportunity to exploit further savings by aggregating demand and committing volume.

Many of these collaborations have resulted in an average additional saving of 4% due to these larger committed volumes, which represents potential additional savings of up to £4.15m per annum.

This framework has been included among those mandated for police use in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. This has endorsed our

Vehicle light bar framework A new framework was awarded in May this year and is open to all emergency services. It is now possible to purchase four standard light bars and the associated emergency warning equipment using further competitions or direct purchase.

Vehicle disposal The number of decommissioned vehicles sold each year is around 3000 with a total sales value of approximately £6.5m.

The NPIA is currently tendering for a pan-government disposal framework working in A) High Performance (MPS Route only)

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partnership with the Environment Agency to include disposal facilities for plant and end of life vehicles as well as vehicle auction sales.

Vehicle glass and glazing We have tendered for a vehicle glass and glazing framework, which was due to be let in July 2011.

Why a national approach works There is clear evidence that a national approach is and has been very effective. From a commercial perspective, there are reduced transaction costs by procuring from central national frameworks thus eliminating the need for tendering at local force level. This has been calculated as a saving of approximately £6m across the police service for common police requirements. Early next year the NPIA will roll out a Police Procurement Hub, which will be an online marketplace to further improve collaboration and competitive sourcing.

A common approach to purchasing across the UK lends itself to standardisation of elements such as national specifications, testing and an approach to safety and policing. By consolidating volumes against common specifications and requirements, the police service is able to take advantage of huge buying power. The take up of police service frameworks for fleet as a result of the success and partnership with stakeholders is almost universal across the forces.

“NPIA believes that the new vehicle frameworks offer real opportunities to deliver significant cash releasing potential to the police service.”

Future direction Savings generation is the most important area of our work and the NPIA is committed to supporting the police service to deliver real cashable savings within fleet.

NPIA believes that the new vehicle frameworks offer real opportunities to deliver significant cash releasing potential to the police service.

The vehicle framework has always emphasised the importance of whole life costs rather than mere purchase price to obtain the best value for money from our spend. To support this our aim is to continue the work on aggregation and standardisation across the fleet portfolio.

NPIA has already taken a huge step towards delivering an efficient national police vehicle fleet, but more is to come as we face up to the challenges posed in the future as the phasing out of the NPIA means we will move to the Home Office where we will still deliver our very best to support national procurement across the police and emergency services fleet category. www.npia.police.uk

Author: Paul Murphy, Procurement and Contracts Manager, Vehicles and Fleet Commercial and Procurement Unit, National Policing Improvement Agency.

Air support investigated by Avon Fire and Rescue Service Firefighters from Avon Fire and Rescue Service have taken to the air as part of a trial to find out whether a helicopter could be used to respond to certain types of emergencies in the future. During the week-long trial in June, crews took part in 10 simulated road traffic collision, water rescue, urban search and rescue (USAR) and line rescue incidents to test the aircraft.

In addition to the 4000 fires attended by Avon Fire and Rescue Service last year, firefighters were also called to 2500 rescue type incidents. The helicopter trials were designed to investigate if air support will offer a cost effective and life saving alternative to road based vehicles.

A crew of four firefighters and rescue equipment were flown to the scene of each incident and, once there, the firefighters were able to use specialist equipment to begin a rescue or render first aid.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive, Kevin Pearson, is backing the project, which he believes could lead to longterm efficiencies and improved casualty care.

Mr Pearson said, “This year the fire and rescue service has suffered some of the most hard-hitting Government cuts. This has forced us to look at alternative ways to provide an emergency response to the public.

“I believe a helicopter could be used to get firefighters and equipment to the scene of certain emergencies more quickly than we could in roadbased vehicles. The trial will help us establish if a helicopter could be used as a ‘first strike’ resource, allowing crews to begin a rescue or render first aid before they are joined by colleagues in road vehicles.

“If we can get life saving skills and equipment to the scene of an emergency, such as a car accident, more quickly than ever before, it certainly improves a casualty’s chance of surviving.

“Fire and rescue is the only emergency service

not to use helicopters, and 15 years ago we couldn’t have contemplated an idea like this. However, advances in technology mean rescue equipment is now lighter and more powerful. As a result I believe we can now fit enough onto a helicopter to provide an effective response.

“I would never expect helicopters to replace fire engines, but we think there is definitely a financial and operational case that an aircraft could be used to support our existing equipment and vehicles.

This is what the trials have been about.”

The five-day trial was conducted using a Eurocopter EC145 helicopter, which, along with a crew and fuel, was provided to the service free of charge by Eurocopter.

The trial was approved by Avon Fire Authority members in September 2010. Although fire and rescue services in Europe and the rest of the world use helicopters, no UK fire and rescue service uses one. London Fire Brigade looked at using a helicopter as a means of transporting officers, not equipment, but decided against progressing the idea.

Detailed information about the response times of the helicopter compared to road-based vehicles was collected along with feedback from the crews involved about the loading and unloading of equipment.

That data is now being analysed and a report on the air support trials is being prepared for Avon Fire Authority members. The authority will then decide if they wish to progress the project to the next stage. www.avonfire.gov.uk

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• Fire Bikes • ATV • Pump Driven Units for 4x4’s and Vans

We are pleased to be associated with Merseyside Fire and Rescue for the supply of their Fire Bikes

Depot Rail Ltd – UK Distributor Tel: 01427 619512 or 07816 422567 Email: sales@drail.co.uk

www.depotfire.co.uk

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Use of motorbikes and quads in a modern fire and rescue service In an attempt to reduce the number and impact of automatic fire alarm (AFA) false alarms in Liverpool city centre, in 2005 Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) introduced a motorcycle rapid response capability to assess alarm actuations. The service has since advanced the concept to introduce both quad bikes to patrol urban parks and heath land areas and, more recently, motorbikes with fire fighting capability.

The initial motorbike response capability allowed bike (and rider) to make rapid progression through the city centre traffic and pedestrianised areas to effect an early assessment of any AFA call. As the vast majority of these calls are false alarms, the bike response was able to reduce road risk by early intervention (cancelling responding appliances) followed by education of the occupants aimed at preventing repetition.

The implementation of the AFA bike coincided with the ‘Liverpool One’ regeneration of the city centre. During this time the bike rider acted as the eyes and ears of MFRS in providing essential early warning and intervention on matters such as road access and arson incidents. The AFA bike also proved an effective tool for safety education and continues to play an active role in a number of RTC reduction events such as ‘Bike Safe’.

Police partnership By 2005, MFRS had a strong and wide ranging partnership with the police and local authority targeting intervention on Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). As part of this intervention the service explored innovative solutions to reach and influence young people, leading in 2006 to the introduction of two quad bikes operated by MFRS advocates. The quad riders patrol open areas such as urban parks, the Sefton coastline and heath land across the county, enabling good progress over terrain inaccessible for other service vehicles. They have proved to be a great tool for engaging with our communities and consequently have played a significant role in the dramatic number of reductions in small deliberate fires, which are the bane of the fire and rescue service across the UK. The quads and bikes are now commonplace in

our community safety engagement activities delivering education and intervention leading to reductions in ASB small fires, accidental dwelling fires, AFAs and road traffic collisions.

Having recognised the value of alternative

solutions involving both motorcycles and small fires response, in 2007 the service advanced the concept to combine the two innovations to introduce motorbikes with fire fighting capability.

Subsequently extensive development and trials have been undertaken that have proven their effectiveness in fire fighting; a single fully charged fire bike will extinguish two fully developed car fires before the medium is exhausted.

Fire Bike The Fire Bike itself is a BMW 1200cc parallel twin motorcycle fitted with a Firexpress fire fighting system. The system incorporates a patented dual-nozzle lance that administers either micro-spray or low expansion foam. The hardened lance enables the trained user to smash through the headlight socket of a vehicle on fire to extinguish the engine compartment.

In light of our experience MFRS recognises four key advantages that make motorbikes and quads, not only an effective but also an essential resource for a modern fire and rescue service.

1. Power of the brand – The FRS has always appreciated the trust and high esteem in which it is held by members of the public. Motorcycles also draw a fascination from the public at large, and when you combine these two powerful brands we really shouldn’t be surprised by the way they attract engagement with wide diversity of people at all ages.

2. Agility and speed of response – all I need say here is look at the picture shown across, the advantage is clear for all to see.

3. All terrain – while the Fire Bikes are only suitable for the road and hard standing, the quads offer an all terrain reach not available to most other vehicles operated by the fire and rescue service, while MFRS have not developed quad bike fire fighting capability as yet, it is already in our pipeline for development.

4. Efficiency – once again the advantage here is obvious; we simply do not need to send a truck full of firefighters with a vast array of emergency response resources to small fires. Many FRSs have now recognised this fact by implementing Small Fires units, but even in comparison to these, costs of a Fire Bike response capability at approximately £60,000 for two fully equipped bikes and PPE, offers clear efficiency savings.

Next steps DCFO Adam Eckley, Essex Fire and Rescue Service and Vice Chair of the CFOA Transport Officers Group, has announced a task and finish group to provide guidance to the UK FRS on the technical standards and certification of motorcycles for the full range of intended FRS applications.

MFRS are eager to support this group and work with CFOA to share the value of our learning and experience in a conference planned for mid November 2011. Further details will follow. www.merseyfire.gov.uk

Author: Group Manager Guy Keen, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS).

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The future is about three things: innovation, innovation and innovation The thought of ‘budget cuts’ invokes, at best, negative thoughts, whereas a requirement to deliver ‘deep budget cuts’ brings on an air of doom, gloom and despondency forcing deep dive reviews of current operating practices and infrastructures. However, as the expression states, ‘every cloud has a silver lining’, challenging times can bring innovation for those left needing to provide solutions and with the responsibility to deliver robust and effective emergency services to the general public. and rescue service. The X5 operates from Leeds Central Fire Station in Kirkstall Road, but has a ‘roving’ brief covering a wider area than most station-based vehicles.

Due to its size it is faster on the road and, since testing began just under 12 weeks ago, it has turned out to 550 alarms! Of these just 12 required the further assistance of a larger appliance.

Leading market suppliers have to play their part in austere times by working even closer with their customers to develop innovative solutions. BMW, working with Angloco, is one of the first suppliers to firmly embrace this philosophy and is perhaps not what you would expect from a company that is best known for making high performance cars, such as the BMW M3!

It is generally not known that BMW started to develop and supply specialist vehicles for the emergency services back in the 1920s and now supplies emergency vehicles throughout the world. The British market plays a leading role in the development of BMW Authorities specialist products in recognition of the high operating standards and technological developments that exist in the UK. Targeted response When fire authorities analyse the mix of 999 calls, the percentage requiring a Cat B fire appliance to respond may not be as high as initially thought. A high proportion of calls are for AFAs (automatic fire alarms), nuisance fires or lock-outs. Why automatically despatch a £150,000 HGV with a crew of five or six incurring the risks associated with pushing a large HGV through dense city traffic? Qualified 999 screening may well identify that smaller/lighter but more numerous Targeted Response Units (TRUs) could tackle, for example, the high number of AFAs. This would leave Cat B appliances free to respond to serious incidents or as a back up when a TRU has identified that a Cat B appliance is required.

Why not use a van instead of an X5? In short a van is built to deliver large and bulky items at relatively low speeds. The BMW X5 xDrive30d AC TRU has a 6-cylinder, turbo-charged EU5 diesel engine developing 245hp, an 8-speed automatic transmission, a self-levelling rear suspension, a market-leading xDrive 4x4 system supplied all as standard but with a very low CO2 output

(195g/km). The X5 TRU will carry a crew of three.

A van has a higher payload! Yes, on the whole it does, but as a result it has been designed for low speed work only whereas the X5 provides an outstanding platform with a combined ability for higher speed driving with safe handling characteristics and is capable of working with a standard Authorities payload of 765kg (optional 890kg).

After all how many vans have passed the NPIA high-speed Brake & Handling test? The X5 uniquely combines a high payload capability with a safe operating platform and has a class 1 NPIA test pass. Maybe this is why so many police authorities operate this model in the very, very demanding role of an Armed Response Unit.

Modified by Angloco The X5 TRU has been modified by Angloco Ltd to include role-equipment racking accessed via the rear nearside passenger door, a slide-out tray located in the rear tailgate area equipped with a Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) and on the right extrication equipment. The CAFS system features a 75-litre stainless steel tank discharging at 35 litres/minute through a 40m length hose reel complete with CAFS branch, with a throw range of approximately 16m.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently trialling its own X5 xDrive 30d AC Targeted Response Unit to deal with calls to incidents such as bin fires, grass fires and fire alarms on businesses without the need to call out a fully-crewed and equipped tender and therefore assist in maintaining frontline appliance availability.

The X5 TRU is responding to calls that come in between the hours of 09:00 and 23:00 as this is when most small fires occur according to the fire

Rapidly changing market Leeds District Commander Mick Smith is overseeing the trials. He said that, “Greater efficiency and better use of resources were essential, and that every call-out by the X5 meant one job saved for a full-crewed tender which could be saving lives elsewhere. What it is actually doing is ensuring fire engines are available as life-saving appliances, and that they are available for major incidents rather than attending minor incidents.”

Andrew Buxton, National Operations Manager for BMW Authorities, said, “The X5 Targeted Response Vehicle clearly demonstrates that BMW, with a close working relationship with Angloco, has committed to developing innovative solutions for a rapidly changing market. We believe that this vehicle is ideal for fire and rescue services on three counts: 1) it will cut costs by reducing the need to unnecessarily call out large, expensive Cat B appliances; 2) it will increase response times due its size, speed and agility; and 3) it may offer a reduction in risk due to not pushing a large HGV through city traffic.

“Whilst the X5 TRU will never replace the need for Cat B appliances, it can certainly add to the set of tools a fire authority may use to increase their effectiveness but help to significantly reduce operating costs.” www.bmwauthorities.co.uk

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North west police helicopters take off A new regional police air operations service took to the skies across the north west of England and Wales on 18 June, giving the region a flexible, costeffective, cross-border helicopter fleet.

The North West Air Operations Group is a regional collaboration between five forces and police authorities, and will operate four helicopters.

The new service will dispatch the aircraft from a regional command desk to incidents across Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales.

The collaboration will allow for around 11 percent savings, while offering an improved air support service. Benefits of the new arrangement include the facility to have the closest helicopter deployed quickly to any incident and if there are two incidents in the same force area, then two helicopters can be deployed as necessary.

NWAOG (North West Air Operations Group) helicopter based at Warton, Lancashire – Helicopter crew.

The new arrangement also prepares the north west for the National Police Air Service, which is set to launch in 2012.

Superintendent Chris Markey is the regional lead for the North West Air Operations Group and

Blood transfusion service adds six vehicles to fleet

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) has recently added six vehicles to its current fleet, including two mobile donating centres and two emergency response 4x4s, to support blood donation and blood delivery across Scotland. The vehicles have been purpose built specifically for SNBTS to ensure maximum donor comfort and efficiency in the collection process.

The Toyota Hi Lux Crew Cab emergency response vehicles will be used for the delivery and collection of blood products and staff throughout Scotland. Each vehicle is fitted with emergency warning systems and a portable Euro Engel fridge.

The fridge is powered during normal operation by the vehicle’s 12V supply and 240V system when static. In-cab controls allow on/off operation and provide visual and audio warning temperature alarms. These 4x4s will no doubt prove invaluable during adverse weather conditions, such as snow or floods.

The two mobile donating centres are purpose built trailers designed for blood collection within the community and commercial sectors. Designed as free space, the area for donation allows flexibility for current collections and future developments.

Main features of the centres include: two hydraulic PODS; kneeling suspension; self levelling corner jacks; hydraulic controlled access stairs; underslung generator; on board UPS; air conditioning; and access lift.

The new staff transit vehicle, a 24-seat BMC Nifty, ensures the safety and comfort of staff, as well as improved session accessibility. SNBTS has 13 collection teams comprising nurses, donor carers and drivers who travel thousands of miles throughout Scotland every year to community and Bloodmobile sessions.

Merseyside Police, the lead force for the command and control of the fleet. He said, “The new arrangement for police helicopters in the north west prepares us for the future of air support nationally, while offering a high-quality, flexible, cross-border service with the ultimate aim of making the north west a better and safer place.”

Merseyside Police Authority is accountable for the finances of the group.

Cllr Bill Weightman, Chair of North West Joint Committee and Merseyside Police Authority, said, “The new regional Air Operations Group is a great example of how collaboration between the north west’s police authorities and forces can result in both savings and a better service. I very much look forward to sharing with our communities across the north west the successes of our new regional fleet.” www.merseyside.police.uk

Superior reflectivity from 3M Diversified technology company 3M will be exhibiting at this year’s NAPFM conference and exhibition. Visitors to stand 67 will have the chance to view the company’s high performance Diamond Grade DG3 Reflective Sheeting with assured seal, which many fire and rescue, ambulance and police fleets throughout the UK have chosen as livery for their vehicles. Known for its outstanding reflectivity, 3M will be displaying a dark box on its stand to allow visitors the chance to view firsthand the reflectivity of Diamond Grade DG3 Reflective Sheeting in the dark.

The new vehicles will enhance SNBTS’s capability to collect and deliver blood to hospitals and will further improve resilience during extreme winter weather and difficult driving conditions as experienced in the region over the last two years.

The SNBTS National Director, Keith Thompson, said, “This is an important investment for the future, securing a high quality of care for donors and patients in Scotland. The vehicles will reduce manual handling, improve the environment for both donors and staff, increase efficiency and have been designed to take into account future advances in blood collection.”

3M is a world leader in developing innovative solutions for the traffic safety market. Its wide product range includes reflective sheeting for traffic signs, a vehicle activated sign, vehicle conspicuity markings, licence plate reflective sheeting, road marking tapes and surface applied road studs.

For more information about 3M’s Traffic Safety Systems products visit stand 67 where technical experts will be offering advice and information on industry best practices and will be available to answer questions.

www.scotblood.co.uk

www.3M.co.uk/traffic/ESV

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In-car recording system for audio and visual driver and passenger monitoring

The Roadhawk RH-2 Professional dual camera system is a twin camera in-car black box recorder with infrared remote and separate T-box recorder.

It records video using a forward facing camera pointing at the front of the vehicle and the road ahead, and video from an inward facing camera filming the driver and passengers.

A built-in mic captures audio from inside the vehicle; this can be disabled. Instant playback facility is available through a 7in LED TFT monitor (optional) with the menu option to select a particular camera view. The backward facing camera is surrounded by infrared LEDs to invisibly illuminate the inside of the vehicle during night and low light driving.

minutes. A single unit can be used in multiple vehicles and its always-on system requires zero maintenance once fitted.

Video is recorded on a constant loop in oneminute segments allowing up to 15 hours of data to be stored. When the memory is full, the Roadhawk RH-2 Professional overwrites the oldest files. ‘Events’ are created using the infrared remote control that will not be overwritten and can be reviewed after using the LED monitor or PC computer software supplied.

The infrared remote control manually activates protected ‘events’. Video and data is saved three minutes before and after the button is triggered, providing a great way to tag video content. Settings menu navigation and video playback options are accessed using the remote control for ease of use.

Compact camera The compact camera unit sits discreetly at the top of the windscreen behind the rear view mirror.

Installation is simple and the unit can be fitted in

Display on Google maps As with the rest of the Roadhawk range of invehicle cameras the Roadhawk RH-2 Professional records GPS and G-Force information. When playing back the video using the PC software, you will see the vehicle overlaid on to Google maps and a constant display of vehicle speed, direction, acceleration/deceleration and G-Force data.

The can be powered via the accessory plug supplied inserted into a lighter socket, meaning most drivers can easily install the Roadhawk RH-2 Professional driving instructor camera kit. It is also possible to wire the system direct to the vehicle to a live ignition. A professional installation service is available, although it can easily be self-fitted with no hardwiring involved.

The Roadhawk RH-2 Professional driving instructor camera kit comes with a full two-year warranty and is available from Roadhawk, with the 7in LED TFT monitor available separately. www.roadhawk.co.uk

New home for high volume hose testing Babcock has developed a unique and innovative facility for testing high volume hoses at its New Dimension dedicated facility in Bardon, which supports the National Resilience Team’s (NRT) fleet of emergency response vehicles.

The hoses, forming part of NRT’s kit, require annual testing to check for leakage and acceptable expansion – ensuring that repairs or replacement are carried out where needed.

Some 4000 hoses are tested each year, as part of the contract. Traditional testing involves transporting the hoses long distances to a suitable location, where they are laid out manually and tested with a standard pump. However as this is done outdoors, adverse weather conditions can cause delays and temporary replacement kit has to be issued while the testing is being carried out.

The new Hose Testing Installation (HTI) provides an in-house facility that both speeds up and improves the process of testing hoses. The rig is just over 50m long – the size of an Olympic pool – and can test five hoses at any one time. It has an automatic carriage that rolls out the hose, enabling each end to be easily attached to a water distribution manifold. Recycled water from an 8000-litre water tank is pushed through to achieve a predetermined test pressure – even allowing for

monthly cleaning of the holding tank – this recycling ability saves in excess of 2.5 million litres of water each year. The facility is also computerised with a Bluetooth capability to record the HVP bar code, and has a screen to monitor the testing.

Martin Audis, Babcock’s Operations Manager, Bardon, said, “This facility, in its pilot stage currently, will literally transform the way that the NRT team tests one of its most vital pieces of equipment.

“The speed in which the rig carries out the testing means that hose is returned within the normal service cycle and replacement kit is no longer needed. Further, its more rigorous testing picks up problems earlier, saving kit from further deterioration, and enabling greater efficiencies for the service long term. We very much look forward to working with fire authorities across the country as we build capability.”

Babcock’s Bardon facility is a purpose-built central maintenance and logistics facility, located near Leicester. It provides a critical NRT central location, helping to enhance nationwide logistics and response through the availability of designated disaster relief equipment 24 hours a day nationwide, and a network of mobile engineers that respond to defects and communications problems around the clock. www.babcock.co.uk

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Vehicle maintenance deal could lead to £2m savings Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service expects to save £2m over the next eight years after choosing a new supplier to maintain its vehicles. The £6m contract, which took effect at the beginning of July, has been awarded to Nottingham City Council following a competitive tendering exercise, which involved nine private and public sector bidders.

The council emerged as the strongest supplier when cost, quality and other factors such as risk and commercial criteria were considered. It achieved the highest overall score of all the competing tenders and demonstrated its ability to meet the performance standards required of the fire and rescue service. The contract covers the maintenance and repair of fire engines, special appliances (eg Aerial Ladder Platform), vans and cars, and also includes vehicle recovery, roadside assistance, MOT testing and accident repair.

Councillor Jane Urquhart, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning and Transportation said, “The City Council is proud to have won this ground-breaking contract. Sharing services makes financial and operational sense. We

have well-equipped garage services and a flexible and well-trained team of vehicle mechanics. We plan to introduce innovative ways of working to maximise use of the workshop, with new shift patterns that include nighttime working for around-the-clock support.

Value for money “This is excellent news for the City Council and provides value for money for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Council Tax payers of Nottinghamshire.”

Frank Swann, Chief Fire Officer, said, “Our vehicles are critical to the delivery of our service and we need to be confident that they are well maintained and we have the support we need for testing and repairs. In these difficult economic times, competition for the lowest price is intense and it is pleasing to see that Nottingham City Council can offer the balance of both quality and price that is essential for an emergency service that public safety is so dependent on.” www.notts-fire.gov.uk

Primetech aids private communications

Primetech is one of the UK’s leading specialists in blue light sector mobile satellite communications and secure wi-fi technology. So when Paramed UK, the largest independent ambulance operator in Scotland and one of the top providers of ambulance and paramedic event cover in the UK, commissioned a new Command & Control Special Operations Support Unit, Primetech was a natural choice of technology partner.

Paramed UK’s highly trained, NHS stateregistered ambulance paramedics and ambulance technicians work with the most current vehicles and equipment, providing ‘peace of mind’ for organisers of all kinds of public events, from sporting events to concerts and festivals.

This vehicle’s impressive addition to the Paramed UK fleet utilises Primetech’s integrated satellite system. It transforms the way ground level communications are managed by guaranteeing high-speed data and voice communications between staff and enabling interoperability with

Nottingham City Council engineer Andy Cope working on one of Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s fire engines, at the City Council’s Eastcroft workshops.

Legion LED lightbar meets ECE R65 requirements

other emergency services.

The fully automated, self seeking satellite system chosen by Paramed UK works in conjunction with Primetech’s comprehensive range of communications services such as the Voice over IP (VoIP), two-way voice and data recording services and real time live image transfer.

Paul Kenny, Director of Paramed UK, explains, “We’ve always placed great importance on spending wisely and investing in high performing, state-of-the-art technology – which is why we approached Primetech to assist with our new vehicle. We are used and approved by NHS Scotland, and the very nature of the work we do and the events that we attend means we are often already on site, and first at the scene of an emergency. It’s vital that we can communicate with our staff, and with other blue light services, irrespective of whether there are conventional networks available.”

The new Legion LED lightbar from RSG Engineering Ltd is powerful in performance, yet economically priced. It was specifically developed to meet the needs of the emergency services market and conforms to current ECE Regulation 65 requirements as well as being e-approved.

A multi-section, clear, UV stable polycarbonate shell wraps around a sturdy aluminium extrusion, resulting in a lightweight, modular and easily serviceable rooftop lighting option. The bar is packed with six-way LED modules, 12-way corner LED modules and three-way LED alley lights that utilise innovative patented D-Fuser optic lenses, which provide maximum effective light output with 360° vision, which means no blind spots.

Available from 24in up to 60in in length, the Legion has 31 built-in selectable flash patterns, operates at 12V with 24V available to order and is supplied with a choice of blue, amber, red and white LED modules.

RSG is the approved distributer of the Legion into the emergency services market.

www.primetech.co.uk

www.rsg-ontop.com

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Founder, owner and director of Nationwide 4x4, 69 year-old Kendrick is, quite simply, the man the pros call to learn all there is to know about driving offroad.

Institutions like the AA, Her Majesty’s Coastguard and St John Ambulance are well aware of the need for the latest professional off road capabilities and at Kendrick’s training centre in Hay on Wye literally thousands of rescue personnel have honed their skills under the watchful eye of one of the country’s foremost off-road driving experts.

Very proud “I think that’s my greatest and proudest achievement,” he says from the eight miles of off-road track he and his team have carved through dense woodland.

“Obviously it is a business but to be able to pass on knowledge and skills to the emergency services and potentially save lives makes me very proud.”

Established in the mid 1990s and specialising in 4x4 training, Nationwide 4x4 also offers technical training and assessment on a range of machinery and equipment to cater for the different requirements of the UK’s land-based industries.

In addition to 4x4 vehicles, other areas covered include handling vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), tractors and loaders, cranes, small plant 360s, dumpers, quad machines and company cars.

It’s all a far cry from Kendrick’s early career. But after 18 years as a military diplomatic driver and almost 20 years at the helm of Nationwide 4x4, he believes the disciplines have plenty in common.

“For some 40 years my career has been behind the wheel in all sorts of situations. It’s all about

knowing the vehicle and understanding weight and balance distribution,” he says. “That, and common sense, of course.”

No nonsense approach While Nationwide 4x4’s no-nonsense approach to the business may not appeal to the weekend warriors or the off-road stag weekend brigade, it’s the key component of the Kendrick experience.

This is no playground with mud churning tyres and extravagant wheel spins. Using the rugged capabilities of two Ford Rangers coupled with standard road tyres, Kendrick teaches his students – many of whom are experienced off roaders in their own right – that it’s not all about brute force.

“We prefer to describe it as teaching off-road ballet rather than the bull-in-china-shop approach with the goal of improving the operators’ understanding of how a 4x4 rescue vehicle should work.”

Photo: Anthony Cullen

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Among the thousands who have benefited from the expertise learned on these LANTRA-approved courses is Darron Burness, Operations Manager for the AA Operations Management Team. “From floods to festivals, we have to be able to handle every situation thrown at us,” he says. “Four years ago we came to Selwyn and were introduced to the Ford Ranger and its capabilities. Working with him has been fantastic for the service and has taken our operational capabilities to new levels.”

Volunteer coastguard Ian Brown from Swanage agrees. He says, “Selwyn has totally changed the way I drive. He emphasised that it is not all about mud flying everywhere but knowing what the vehicle can do for you, while at the same time respecting the environment you drive in. Now when I look at a situation, I don’t ever think I can’t handle it – Selwyn teaches you to step back and analyse the problem from every angle.” http://nationwide4x4.co.uk

Photo: Anthony Cullen

Selwyn Kendrick – the trainer’s trainer While the name Selwyn Kendrick may not be instantly recognisable to some, chances are if you’ve ever been in a situation that relied on the 4x4 skills of the rescue services, then you owe a word of thanks to the veteran Welshman.

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Dometic Group signs up for ESS2011 For many years now Dometic Group has been a major force in supplying products to a large number of organisations around the world. The company supplies medical refrigeration to laboratories, blood bank and food refrigeration to the military and in Europe it has a strong connection with emergency services vehicles, supplying a vast array of products from air conditioning and generators to bespoke-fitted cool boxes for ambulances.

Dometic Group turned over more than €1.2 billion in 2010 with 23 manufacturing plants worldwide supporting its global operation.

It is Dometic UK’s goal to widen its profile nationally and bring the company’s vast product range to this market. Dometic not only supplies off

the shelf products, but also offers support, after sales care and advice. It intends to work closely with the regional authorities to manufacture and develop new ideas to satisfy the advancing technologies used in modern emergency services transportation.

Stuart Wardman from Dometic UK, who is the Automotive division Sales Manager, attended The Emergency Services Show 2010 (ESS2010) as a customer and was impressed to see so many of the company’s products installed in different applications. Dometic UK’s attendance at this year’s show in November as an exhibitor is one the company hopes will be a successful networking opportunity and a regular occurrence. www.dometic.com

Service leads the way on use of smaller fire appliances Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service is leading the way on using smaller fire appliances as the frontline emergency response vehicle at certain fire stations.

Group Manager Ally MacDonald, Response Support Manager, said, “Other brigades are using smaller appliances for specific reasons such as responding to small fires. Devon and Somerset is the first fire service in the country to combine smaller appliances with compressed air foam systems instead of water and reduce standard equipment carried on the appliance, according to the risks in that location.”

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority agreed to the service carrying out further work to implement the new Light Rescue Pumps (LRPs) in May. As part of the service’s public consultation on its corporate plan proposals, 80.2 percent of those that responded to the consultation agreed that the proposal should be implemented.

Typical fire appliance 12/14 tonnes Length 7.91m Width 2.6m Height 3.12m Water capacity 1800lts Breathing apparatus x 4 Road rescue enhanced Crew max 6 Foam system Miles per gallon 10 Ladders 13.5m

LRP 7.5 tonnes 6.18m 2.04m 2.74m 1000lts BA x 3 Road rescue full set Max 5 Foam system 18/20 10.5m

Comparison of standard fire appliance and light rescue pump:

Carnation expands its CANBuscompatible range

Significant advantages The smaller appliances could potentially replace the larger, standard fire appliances at a number of fire stations across the two counties. Light rescue pumps perform the same role as larger fire appliances, for example, they carry the same number of firefighters, water, compressed air foam, breathing apparatus and road collision rescue equipment, and attend the same emergency incidents. However, the light rescue pumps are lighter and smaller than traditional fire appliances and have significant advantages, particularly in rural areas where the roads are narrower and in places where badly parked cars are an issue.

Carnation Designs has expanded its range of vehicles compatible with the advanced CANBus/KRS unit. Constantly increasing technology levels have made connectivity to a vehicle’s electrical system more challenging and time consuming than ever before, with requirements for power management, control and IDR interface information continuing to expand and evolve.

Since the launch of Carnation Designs’ CANBus/KRS unit, more than 150 vehicles have benefited from the intelligent, secure link to vehicle systems that the CANBus module provides.

To meet customer requirements, this easy to install, fully e-marked device is available for an ever expanding range of vehicles, providing vehicle builders and fleet managers with more choice than ever before. These include: Volvo V70 and S60; BMW 3 and 5 series; Audi A4, A6 and Q7; Land Rover Discovery 4 vehicles; plus Renault, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat vans.

www.dsfire.gov.uk

www.carnationdesigns.co.uk

An initial trial at Crediton has indicated that the smaller appliances may reduce response times to certain incidents by up to 20 percent. Further trials of the smaller appliances will now continue at Crediton, Minehead and Wells fire stations.

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Quick, get on your bike!

– It’s an emergency!

The bobby on the bike is making a comeback as police forces increasingly ditch their panda cars and get peddling. They’re not alone, increasingly emergency services are answering the call of the cycle. And 95 percent of police forces nationwide are buying them at Halfords.

With over 10 years’ experience of tailoring bespoke packages to suit budget and needs of individual forces, Halfords is the number one choice for cycle and cycle accessory procurement.

Any force looking to get on their bike with minimal amount of resource can be assured Halfords approved framework tender offers the perfect solution.

With absolute focus and commitment to scheme compliance, and a client-led approach to providing a fully managed service, any fleet taking advantage of Halfords’ market-leading service can have complete confidence that it is fully supported and managed on their behalf.

Reduced call out costs Highly visible police officers on bikes are proven to reassure communities, while reducing call out costs and response times. Most UK police forces now include cycle squads and, in addition to standard patrol work, officers are successfully targeting shoplifting, street crime and even drug trafficking.

North Yorkshire Police bike team of specially trained officers have used Halfords cycles to great effect. PC Ed Rogerson, of the Harrogate Safer Neighbourhood Team, said, “The bikes certainly cut response times and I’m regularly first on the scene at incidents because I can use alleyways and back streets to respond quickly.”

The Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland (ACPOS) added, “ACPOS fully supports the use of police mountain bicycles, which provide an additional patrolling option to supplement patrols on foot and using police vehicles. As well as the environmental benefits, officers can negotiate town and city centres quickly allowing a faster response to incidents than on foot.”

Arson hotspots Crime isn’t the only emergency being tackled from a saddle. Firefighters in several London boroughs, West Midlands, Devon and Somerset and Greater Manchester are now cycling.

West Midlands Fire Service turned to Halfords when they formed a Community Cycle Team to tackle persistent arson attacks in hotspots across the region. Within just three months the number of incidents in the trial areas dropped by more than 85 percent, saving £195,000.

“Fighting crime means being mobile, and perhaps surprisingly it is bikes not cars that are proving an increasingly effective weapon,” says Clair Allen, who heads up the Halfords 999 bikes initiative. “In many instances bikes are the most efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of getting officers to the scene.”

Ambulance trusts to use cold weather tyres Ambulances across the Midlands will be driven on cold weather tyres this winter to enable crews to reach patients more safely. Both the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) and East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) will use Michelin’s Agilis Alpin and Alpin 4 ranges across their fleets – a total 530 ambulances and 308 rapid response cars.

The decision comes after the neighbouring trusts’ fleet managers compared standard tyres with cold weather tyres at a test day at the MIRA track in Warwickshire. Results showed that on a slippery surface similar to ice and snow, Agilis Alpin tyres reduced ambulance braking distances by more than half. Drivers from both services also reported significant improvements in traction and steering response.

Graham Cann, WMAS Regional Head of Fleet, said, “We have had two harsh winters with lots of snow and ice and to assist in the delivery of patient care we had been using snow socks to get around.

While the snow sock is an absolutely fantastic tool we believe going on to winter tyres will enhance the vehicles’ ability to get to their destinations in a safe manner, therefore giving the patients a better chance of receiving the treatment and care they need.

“For some of our patients every second counts. If by using cold weather tyres it reduces journey times to these patients by even 30 seconds, it could be the difference between life and death; that has got to be something worth doing.”

Although WMAS was an existing Michelin customer, EMAS had been using a different tyre supplier. Steve Farnsworth, EMAS Fleet General Manager, said, “We had been interested in using cold weather tyres for some time and after seeing the Michelin tests there was no doubt that these are the tyres for us. They are not just a snow and ice tyre, the shorter stopping distance is also very noticeable in the slush and wet, plus handling on the dry track in cold weather was impressive too.”

Olympic paramedics Paramedics are also switching to cycles, the London Ambulance Service employs paramedics on cycles at all of Heathrow’s five terminals, dealing with an average of 400 emergency calls a month.

Paramedics on bikes are also to be used on site for London’s 2012 Olympics.

Halfords offers fleets the UK’s widest choice of cycles and accessories, including exclusive access to the fastest growing premium brand, Boardman bikes. All are available in bespoke 999 designs.

Fleets can also choose from a range of bike maintenance plans with savings of up to 65 percent for the emergency services.

Performance benefits Both fleets will be fitted with Michelin cold weather tyres by fast-fit specialist ATS Euromaster during October and early November, as the tyres’ performance benefits become apparent when temperatures drop below 7°C. Every summer tyre removed by ATS Euromaster will receive a thorough safety inspection before being carefully stored for the winter, ready for re-fitting by the mobile tyre technicians during late March and April 2012. The part-worn cold weather tyres will then receive the same comprehensive safety inspection before being stored for the following winter.

www.halfordsb2b.co.uk

www.michelin.co.uk

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Green credentials Hampshire investigates green fleet options win ‘Excellence’ award for GMFRS

PC Adam Lander with the Nissan LEAF

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) have taken a holistic approach to fleet management by reducing direct and embedded CO2 emissions at all stages in the vehicle lifecycle, from construction to day-to-day use and final disposal. Over 2009/10 the measured cost savings for the five network members reached £786,020 – with a reduction in CO2 emissions of 7900 tonnes.

In recognition, the service recently won the overall Example of Excellence prize in the ways2work Award category, in association with the National Business Travel Network, as part of Business in the Community’s 2011 Awards for Excellence. The awards highlight the best examples of the positive impact businesses are having in the environment, among their employees, through the supply chains and in the local communities in which they operate.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue accepted the award in front of an audience of over 1000 high profile business leaders.

Steve McGuirk CBE, Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, said, “The public have told us that sustainability is an important issue to them and we have embedded sustainable principles throughout the delivery of our service.

Greening our travel has been just one element of this activity, which had not only helped us to make significant savings to the cost of our service, but has also led to significant innovations in our appliance design and seen over 20 percent of our staff regularly cycling to work.”

For full details and case studies of all the 2011 Awards for Excellence winners visit www.bitc.org.uk/awards2011.

Hampshire Constabulary’s transport department is taking a leading role in supporting environmentally friendly vehicles after trialling the use of an electricpowered Nissan. Officers in Portsmouth were given a taste of the technology after the force was granted the use of a Nissan LEAF for a five-day period.

Using electricity sourced from the mains system,

the vehicles are charged overnight at an approximate cost of 93 pence. This allows the car to travel in the region of 113 miles before it needs to be recharged.

The trial period in the force’s Eastern Area gave the constabulary an opportunity to test the vehicles in a city environment, where mileage is not as high, with officers receiving the appropriate training in order to drive the car.

John Bradley, the force’s Transport Manager, who was able to use his contacts at Nissan to secure the trial period at no cost to the force, said, “I am really excited by the Nissan LEAF as it is a car that has been developed from the ground up to be a fullyengineered electric car and, in the long term, electric vehicles could have a great impact on the force in terms of our carbon footprint and the money saved through reduced fuel costs.” www.hampshire.police.uk

Snow problem? No problem

Anti-slip snow socks from Finer Filters Ltd, based in County Cork, Ireland, are textile covers for tyres designed to provide safety and traction in extreme driving conditions.

Designed not to deteriorate even when driving on mixed areas of snow/ice and asphalt, the socks are available in six sizes to fit the entire range of tyres present in the market. There is also a model for trucks and buses available in 11 sizes. The socks should not

be used off paved roads and should only be used only at the maximum speed of 30mph (50kph).

Also available from Finer Filters are more traditional snow chains, which are quick and easy to assemble and fit when compared to standard metallic snow chains, and when taking into account the extreme conditions of use. Fitting is achieved by first introducing the tyre into the chain (as if it were a cover) as far as possible, then the vehicle is driven slightly forwards or backwards and the chain adjusted.

A patented product, the chains are automatically centred on the tyre after a very short period of use and they won’t fall off while driving under normal conditions.

Manufactured in Europe, the chains are certified

by TÜV, Onorm 5121, B26 and are approved by the Colorado Department of Transportation. There is no vibration, compared to when using metal snow chains, which results in better driving conditions. www.finerfilters.com

www.bitc.org.uk Reader Reply No. Emergency Services Times August 2011

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Preventing dead batteries in emergency vehicles

JLT touchscreen PCs for both in-vehicle and mobile use JLT Mobile Computers, a leading manufacturer and developer of rugged computing solutions, has launched Flexible Fixed, vehicle-mounted computers that give users the flexibility to easily detach it from the vehicle. jFlex computers are built and tested to IP65 standard and will operate in temperatures from -30°C to +55°C. They will feature an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, which allows it to operate at a high performance level and supports various kinds of operating systems including Windows 7, Windows XP and Linux.

“There are many benefits of Flexible Fixed,” said Christian Funk, Product and Marketing Manager for JLT Mobile Computers. “It is easy to move the computer between vehicles, and the computers can be personalised to reduce abuse and repair costs. It is quick and easy to remove the computer from the vehicle overnight, reducing the risk of theft while at the same time protecting confidential information.

Cole Hersee, based in Boston, Massachusetts, in the US, has launched the Voltage Sensing Relay & Timer (VSRT), an exciting new product in the FlexMod™ range. The FlexMod VSRT conserves the starting power of a vehicle battery by shutting off auxiliary loads when either starting voltage drops to a low level, or a pre-set timer times out.

Excessive battery discharge is a problem that is sometimes unavoidable, particularly for emergency vehicles. When a vehicle is left idling with active warning lights and other onboard loads, a battery deficit can still arise and the emergency vehicle cannot be re-started.

The FlexMod VSRT is ideal for emergency vehicles, as it virtually eliminates the possibility of the vehicle not reaching the next emergency situation due to a dead battery. This small (4in x 3in x 1in) piece of equipment alerts the vehicle operator when starting voltage is low and then cuts off any non-essential loads, such as air conditioning or exterior lighting, thus conserving power to start.

Cole Hersee utilises solid-state technology in the creation of the FlexMod VSRT, providing long life and zero maintenance or replacement. Its service life exceeds one million on/off cycles, operating for the entire lifetime of the vehicle. This device has a rating of 10A, and can handle many loads directly or drive a relay or solenoid for higher amperages. Overvoltage and overcurrent protective measures are also included, providing extra levels of assurance.

The VSRT is also completely weather resistant, waterproof and dustproof, allowing it to be mounted anywhere on the vehicle while remaining reliable and functional. With minimal wiring and a snap-in connector, it does not require any additional heavy or bulky hardware, so installation is easy and simplified.

British-built boat for Geneva Police

“Service and updates can be done much faster.

The customer can get a replacement unit that only takes a few seconds to change, without using any tools. It also allows the flexibility to use the computer outside the vehicle, for example when a police officer writes a fine or a warehouse employee needs to go into areas that cannot be accessed by forklift trucks,”

The Geneva Police already had a larger 7.9m high performance X range Delta RIB operating on Lake Geneva but needed a smaller 6.8m X range Delta RIB that could be trailed, giving better access to larger numbers of launching places around the lake’s shores. It had to be fully mobile and easy to launch anywhere, quickly.

Specifically adapted to Swiss regulations, the new 6.8m Delta RIB is fitted with a Yamaha F300B engine, giving a 36-knot cruising speed. To comply with the regulations, the fuel system is fully removable for inspection and maintenance. Seating includes jockey pods and accommodates up to six people (two crew and four passengers).

The new Delta 6.8m delivered to the Geneva Police is being utilised for lake patrol, surveillance, rescue, border patrol, and as a dive boat.

Interestingly, Stockport-based Delta was also asked to put a Union Jack alongside its livery to show that this was a British-built quality boat.

Delta now includes the Union Jack alongside its livery on all builds, unless specifically requested not to.

www.jltmobile.com

www.deltapower.co.uk

www.colehersee.com

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SNOW SOCKS-TEXTILE COVERS For intensive use in snow and ice conditions. For cars, SUVs, minivans, four wheel drive and trucks Designed to be used without deterioration even when driving on mixed areas of snow/ice and asphalt.

No need to take the covers off till the end of the slippery

DON’T GET CAUGHT OUT AGAIN THIS WINTER! • Textile cover for tyres. It provides safety and traction in extreme driving conditions.

• It is a patented product. It is certified by TUV, Onorm 5121, B26 and approved by the Colorado Department of Transportation.

• Very easy to fit especially when compared to standard metallic snow chains, and when taking into account the extreme conditions of use • European manufactured. Washable

area

• No vibration, compared to when using metal snow chains, which results in better driving conditions.

• Fit to all tyre sizes for cars, SUV, 4 wheel drive, buses, truck and industrial machinery: • Available in 6 sizes that fit the entire range of tyres present in the market.

• 1 model for Trucks and Buses available in 11 sizes (fits to any tyre size in the market).

Finer Filters Ltd Unit 14 Gateway Buis Ctr Midleton, Co. Cork, Ireland Tel 00353214638727 Fax 00353214638928 Email liam@finerfilters.com Web www.finerfilters.com

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Control room solutions: a wealth of experience proven to benefit operations Control rooms are vital to the effective operations of the emergency services, and the Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England can benefit from other emergency services for best practice in future control room solutions. FRSs are currently in a position where they need to decide the best course of action to fill the void left by FiReControl. A focus on data mobilisation, collaboration and maximising the value of existing infrastructure is key to this decision. Using the experience outlined below, Airwave has developed ControLink to fill this void.

At the heart of the emergency services, control rooms are vital to the effective and efficient management and dispatch of available resources and assets. Control room personnel use essential equipment and software to understand where resources are in order to effectively manage and deploy emergency staff and vehicles.

Airwave believes that resilience and responsiveness are the fundamental characteristics of control room solutions and enable customers to benefit from full end-to-end voice and data functions, data mobilisation and efficient and effective communications. Airwave has used its knowledge and expertise of developing and implementing control room solutions to all 11 ambulance trusts in the UK, and to emergency services customers in Scotland and Wales to develop ControLink – a suite of voice and data solutions for the Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) in England.

“ControLink offers national resilience through solutions tailored to local needs.”

“Airwave’s experience in delivering control room solutions to all ambulance trusts as well as customers in Scotland and Wales has given us great insight and knowledge of this crucial area. We identified the need to replace legacy analogue ambulance systems to improve the speed and quality of call and data handling and have now delivered fully managed end-to-end digital voice and data communications. This has resulted in increased operational flexibility and effectiveness and lower operational costs for our customers,” states Mark Pearson, Client Direct at Airwave.

Integrated control room solutions for Scotland and Wales Scotland and Wales FRSs are leading the way in control room solutions. Working in partnership with the FRSs, Airwave has successfully delivered integrated voice and data communication solutions to its Scottish and Welsh FRSs customers. The solutions ensure a common and resilient communication system. They enable firefighters to communicate directly with their own control centres or incident command centres and fire vehicles, as well as with police, ambulance and other civil contingencies colleagues.

Scottish and Welsh FRSs are able to use mobile data to mobilise crews in response to emergency calls, which offers considerable benefits to the services in terms of speed, accuracy and incident management.

Shared services, local solutions One of the benefits of Airwave’s control room solutions is the connection to the Airwave Network, which allows customers to benefit from full resilience, geographic coverage and end-to-end encryption. The deployment of the Airwave Network has allowed current systems used by the FRSs to be integrated and operated across the Network, providing voice clarity and secure data delivery.

Following a national Fire and Rescue Service consultation process, Fire Minister Bob Neill has suggested that England’s FRSs bid for up to £1.8m each to develop and upgrade their own fire control room equipment and functions for improving and enhancing resilience and efficiency. In line with the outcome of the consultation and with FRSs customers, Airwave’s approach to delivering ControLink will help FRSs to achieve improved resilience and efficiency. ControLink offers national resilience through solutions tailored to local needs.

Collaboration amongst FRSs will support a reduction in the need for high investments in

physical infrastructure. The theme of collaboration and the sharing of systems and infrastructure can be further developed where Airwave physically hosts the communication and control room systems.

Using a ControLink hosted solution customers can secure continuity of service through Airwave’s Network along with associated systems resilience and high availability.

ControLink – future of mobilisation and control room solutions Airwave’s success in delivering control room solutions has paved the way for ControLink, which can be deployed in various ways to meet the emerging operational and technical requirements of the FRSs, maximising the value of existing infrastructure.

ControLink offers a range of innovative solutions with benefits ranging from voice clarity, guaranteed resilience within SLAs and data mobilisation. This not only fills the gap left by the cancellation of FiReControl, it also takes advantage of the latest control room solutions and features.

David Sangster, UK services director for Airwave, said, “ControLink has been developed in close collaboration with our customers, software and hardware partners. It offers vital solutions – from data mobilisation through to complete, integrated control room solutions – that not only fill the gaps left by the loss of FiReControl, but also take advantage of the latest control room solutions and features. Leveraging the investments made by the FRSs, ControLink provides core data and voice solutions through the Airwave Network.”

Contact details: To find out more about ControLink and how Airwave can transform your control room solutions contact Airwave on: 08000 113 399, e-mail: airwave.sales@airwavesolutions.co.uk or visit www.airwavesolutions.co.uk

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High Volume Pumps deployed at recent wildfire incidents Fire and rescue services (FRSs) across the UK recently reported their busiest periods for a number of years in dealing with wild fires involving moorland, gorse and forest. During the week commencing 2 May 2011, significant moorland and woodland fires were identified as being dealt with by Royal Berkshire FRS, Lancashire FRS, Staffordshire FRS and West Yorkshire FRS. Along with considerable numbers of conventional FRS appliances, eight High Volume Pumping Units (HVPs) were deployed at these incidents.

An initial call to a fire in Swinley Forest was made on 27 April 2011. Swinley is a coniferous and broadleaf forest, the majority of which is owned and managed by the Forestry Commission with other areas owned by Crown Estates. Due to the atmospheric conditions and the dynamic nature of the ‘wildfire’ phenomenon caused by the latent forest conditions, by 4 May 2011 the incident had involved around 300 hectares of Swinley Forest. In order to deal with the incident, a total of 25 conventional pumping appliances and four HVPs were deployed in and around the forest at that time.

Additionally, via mutual assistance arrangements with Royal Berkshire FRS, London Fire Brigade resourced the HVP sector at the incident by providing HVP crews and Bulk Media Advisors to HVP operations.

National Resilience Team mobilised On 5 May 2011, two National Resilience Team (NRAT) officers were mobilised to the incident at Swinley Forest to offer assistance in supporting the logistical management of the HVPs at the incident.

At that time six HVPs were deployed providing two fire fighting water supply lines into Swinley Forest over a distance of approximately 6.5km. The pumps were being supplied from the lake at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

On 6 May 2011, an ongoing NRAT presence continued to support the incident. The Gloucestershire FRS Enhanced Command Support vehicle was requested by Royal Berkshire FRS to enhance the logistical management being provided

by NRAT to the HVPs attending.

A recovery and repatriation plan was produced by NRAT and offered to the Incident Commander in

National exercise tests HVP arrangements The first ever national High Volume Pump (HVP) training exercise took place at Avonmouth Docks in Bristol from 2021 May 2011. The exercise was developed to prove the HVP Concept of Operations and test national arrangements to respond to simultaneous incidents requiring the use of HVPs and associated equipment.

A planning team was formed and headed by the National Resilience Assurance Team (NRAT) and Avon Fire and Rescue Service to create and resource three simultaneous, large-scale events, which would test: national mobilising procedures; National Coordination and Advisory Framework (NCAF) arrangements; national response to multiple large-scale incidents involving High Volume Pumps; and command and control procedures at local and national level.

HVPs and crews from 16 fire and rescue services from as far afield as Cheshire, London, Devon and Northern Ireland were requested to respond to three incidents that included: the creation of a large ‘Grey Water’ relay; the removal of water to reduce the possibility of the collapse of a reservoir wall; and the supply of water to foam equipment at a fire in a COMAH Top Tier site.

The exercise commenced at 12:00hrs on 20 May with a request from Avon FRS Control to the Fire and Rescue Services National Coordination Centre (FRSNCC) for the deployment of seven HVPs and their supporting Double Hose Boxes (DHBs) to a pre-determined Strategic Holding Area (SHA) at Severn Park Training Centre in Avonmouth, Bristol. NRAT personnel, with the assistance of the Enhanced Logistical Support Vehicle (ELSV) deployed from Gloucestershire FRS, managed the SHA. A request for an additional five HVP and DHB modules was received during the early hours of 21 May, with one HVP and DHB held at the SHA as a strategic reserve.

The exercise was a great test for all involved, not just for the teams and their operational effectiveness, but the demonstration of cooperation and effective working strategies between FRSs. Working together on a national scale with HVP teams ensures the National Resilience Assurance Team identifies vital learning which, when acted upon, will improve the preparedness and response of such assets and teams for future incidents. www.fireresilience.org.uk

order to enable the efficient repatriation of HVPs upon cessation of fire fighting operations. The identified location for asset recovery operations was the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

On 7 May 2011, in order to reinforce the established critical fire fighting water supply provided by HVP equipment and following an operational fire risk assessment, a request was made

by Royal Berkshire FRS to the Fire and Rescue Service National Coordination Centre (FRSNCC) for three further HVPs to attend the incident on 8 May 2011.

The HVP sector was subsequently closed down on 10 May 2011 in accordance with the tactical plan of the Incident Commander.

Recovery and repatriation A rota of NRAT officers provided a sustained presence at the incident throughout the week commencing 9 May 2011 enabling continued logistics support for the recovery and repatriation of HVPs. The HVP recovery plan comprised three stages: 1. Recovery of hose (approximately 18km) and all associated equipment from within Swinley Forest 2. ‘On site’ cleaning, testing and re-stowage of HVP hose and equipment 3. Timely repatriation of HVPs to their host FRSs. Throughout the week the recovery plan, resourced by crews including London Fire Brigade, Royal Berkshire FRS, Gloucestershire FRS, along with NRAT and Babcock personnel, was efficiently executed.

HVP recovery and repatriation operations concluded at 18:00 hours on 14 May 2011, with NRAT withdrawing from the incident. A total of nine HVPs, approximately 400 lengths of hose and all ancillaries were recovered and repatriated to host FRSs over a four-day period.

Summary The contribution made by HVPs to the resolution of this and similar incidents has demonstrated both their effectiveness in deployment and the operational benefit they can bring in complementing conventional resources when confronted with large scale incidents. www.fireresilience.org.uk

Author: Richard Lawrence, CFOA HVP Lead (Assistant Chief Fire Officer – Hereford & Worcester FRS) & Steve Ray, HVP Deputy Capability Lead, National Resilience Team

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After FiReControl – opportunities to enhance interoperability and community safety Fire and rescue services are reviewing service delivery in the wake of the decision to scrap the FiReControl project. This presents opportunities to embrace greater interoperability and enhance community safety.

The English fire and rescue service is at an important crossroads in its history following the scrapping of the FiReControl project last year.

There is no doubt that the FiReControl project would have helped to create a resilient national infrastructure capable of dealing with natural and manmade disasters such as flooding and terrorist attacks. I know through personal experience that all fire and rescue services could be affected by any of these events and having that level of national resilience would potentially provide a high level of confidence in our ability to protect the UK critical national infrastructure.

As Chief Fire Officer in Gloucestershire in the summer of 1997, I experienced one of the most challenging tasks of my career when the county was the subject of severe flooding. While all the agencies involved worked together to coordinate the relief effort, I could see the benefits of a nationally networked response capability in helping us deal with disasters even more quickly and effectively.

While the very clear benefits of FiReControl were obvious to helping fast and flexible responses to large scale incidents – the vision was very much centred on the fire and rescue service responding as an organisation rather than looking at wider issues of interoperability with other blue light responders.

If we are to meet the challenges of the coming years we need to create seamless working among all local organisations and put interoperability to the fore in our planning.

“One of the most effective ways in which greater collaboration can be achieved is through cutting edge technology.”

Local visions This is already starting to happen on an informal basis and I predict that chief officers will in future increasingly look to greater collaboration not just with neighbouring areas but also likeminded FRSs with similar problems and experiences in order to strengthen resilience.

Nobody knows better than chief officers what they need to do to protect their communities.

Further safety improvements to both the public and emergency response personnel can come through the chiefs networking with other brigades and looking to build resilience in a different way to the vision laid out in FiReControl.

Budget pressures have already led the 43 police forces in England and Wales to look towards local collaborations to deliver an efficient and cost effective service. I think FRSs are also looking to

more local collaborations as an effective way of working, not just to help them manage their response to major disasters but also in the day-today running of the business.

The fact that organisations recognise there is a very real business need to work together more effectively on a regional basis presents an ideal opportunity for organisations to collaborate on a more formal basis in the regions.

Challenges The benefits to greater collaboration are clear where all agencies and authorities are working together to build up a richer picture of their local area in order to decide on the most appropriate service delivery to make their communities safer and protect local people from harm.

There is no doubting that this comes with its challenges, including the fact that most organisations have individual targets, budgets and that methods of data sharing are sometimes piecemeal and ineffective. It is also still unclear about the impact of the scrapping of the Local Area Agreements will have on local authorities and other agencies in terms of their ability to work in a coordinated way.

Wider picture What we need to recognise is that collaboration is not just about the emergency services working together more effectively – it should extend beyond this to create an ethos of local working that includes all the agencies, such as local authorities, charitable organisations and other organisations that have a say in local service delivery.

Technology One of the most effective ways in which greater collaboration can be achieved is through cutting edge technology. I believe the way forward post

FiReControl is for experienced technology providers like Cassidian to work directly and in partnership with local FRSs and partner agencies to create local integrated emergency management and information capabilities that are robust enough to achieve effective emergency and routine use of resources.

As a consultant working for Cassidian, I have seen the company continue to work on effective solutions based on the cutting edge technology that it had developed to be used for FiReControl. The solution is called Emergency Response Capability and it has the potential to play a vital role in helping individual agencies collate and manage data more efficiently and effectively. Central to the Emergency Response Capability approach is to take complex data and process it so that it can be used to inform activity in a more coordinated and strategic way.

Potential This has a huge potential to help shape local service delivery among agencies. For example, research shows that certain people are more vulnerable to fires than others. Emergency Response Capability will allow FRSs to collate data relating to patterns of incidents. For example, if a certain household or individual has been involved in repeat fires the data should flag this up and we can then share this with other agencies. It might well be that this household includes an individual with special needs that requires other support to prevent further fires.

As a Chief Fire Officer, my motivation for getting out of bed in the morning was to make communities safer and to prevent fires occurring in the first place and so being able to collate important local data and then share it with other organisations will have a significant impact on community safety.

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The fire and rescue service has placed considerable time and resources on community safety and having even better technology to underpin this work can only significantly enhance future activity.

Tailored to local need One of the benefits of Emergency Response Capability is that it can be tailored to local need, which is vital at a time when budgets are stretched and resources are limited. Emergency Response Capability is not one solution, it is a suite of solutions that can be tailored accordingly. One of the strengths of Cassidian is its ability to work with organisations to define their individual requirements and then tailor the technology accordingly.

The Emergency Response Capability technology includes a range of solutions to help integrate call processing, enhance emergency notification and incident management as well as providing computer aided dispatching and emergency response centre management. Mobile data technology ensures effective communication with frontline firefighters and enables resources to be deployed in a coordinated way. All these elements are vitally important if interoperability between agencies is to be achieved.

Compatibility and interoperability One of the most important aspects is that Emergency Response Capability can also integrate with technology used by other blue light organisations such as the Airwave radio, which is a vital element to greater collaboration. One of the drawbacks in the past has been the incompatibility of the different technologies being used by different organisations and their resulting difficulties in communicating effectively.

Other facilities can also be shared with other organisations, including the delivery of voice and text messages en masse to anyone via every possible device, including phones, pagers, e-mail and fax.

This could be a vital way of alerting local people to major incidents in a rapid and coordinated way.

This is particularly useful in major incidents as it alerts large numbers of people almost instantly.

Caller location Emergency Response Capability can also enhance the sharing of data such as potential hazardous materials, local road restrictions and the real time monitoring of resources – information that is vital to all local emergency service providers as well as wider agencies.

Other features include the ability to pinpoint caller location in real time and allow control room staff to build up an accurate picture of the incident and dispatch resources accordingly.

All in all, Emergency Response Capability is an end-to-end solution that can significantly enhance the ability of local agencies to build up an even better picture of their local area. This will enable them to work closely to allocate resources and services in a strategic way with the emphasis being firmly on prevention as well as effective response. www.cassidian.com

Author: Terry Standing, former Chief Fire Officer and fire consultant to Cassidian.

Leadership and learning in disaster management At the recent Emergency Planning Society (EPS) Resilience Symposium: Condition Critical 2011, held in Glasgow, the ambulance service led a session on ‘Leadership and Learning in Disaster Management – a Shared Experience’.

This session focused on the ‘people’ aspects of major incidents and disasters and posed the rhetorical question, ‘How many of us have written procedures without really engaging with the key stakeholders – that of the people potentially involved in an incident?’

Resilience in the ambulance service is provided through the National Ambulance Resilience Board (NARB), chaired by Anthony Marsh, Chief Executive of West Midlands Ambulance NHS Trust. NARB has four workstreams, covering: Mitigation, led by Andy Shakeshaft (Great Western); Preparedness, led by Paul Kudray (North West); Response, led by Robert Flute (East of England); and Recovery, led by Cliff Randall (Wales). Mark Norbury, in his role as the National Ambulance Resilience Coordinator, assists these workstreams.

7 July Review Following the events that took place in London on 7 July 2005, the Greater London Authority’s Inquiry Chairman, in his foreword in the postincident review, stated, ‘If the one achievement of the Assembly’s 7 July Review is to add an outward focus to emergency planning – to underscore the fact that responders are dealing with individuals and not an ‘incident’, and that all services must work together for public good – then we will have contributed to the protection of London, its residents and visitors’.

In the Inquiry that led up to this report, witnesses expressed clearly some of the issues that faced them in the Underground that terrible day.

‘Kristina’ had managed to make her way up to the ticket hall and said, “There were people all over the place… people just sitting down crying on their own, people trying to breathe, people trying to take water. Yet again, there were no underground staff, no emergency services at that stage, telling us where to go, to sit down, ‘We will come to you. We will look after you. It is going to be OK’.” This poignant memory of that day patently is etched in the minds of those involved whether caught up in the actual explosions or responding to help those injured.

Exceeding public expectations The expectations of the public are that the emergency services will respond to their call for help. It is therefore correct that the ambulance service, along with police and fire and rescue colleagues, share, reflect and adapt working practices to ensure that people are the focus of what we do – right time, right place, right care.

The communication process is vital to those caught up in an incident but also the wider public and their perception of whether the response was satisfactory. It must be assumed that the media will be on-scene pretty much as soon as the incident occurs with mobile phone recording images and sound from the incident site. The public expects our emergency services and other key responders to be able to quickly manage such incidents. If the situation is so dangerous then rationale of why must be explained to the media.

This learning process is key to ensuring that any future response is appropriate, timely and targeted.

It is therefore incumbent on all organisations to review their policies, plans and procedures after all training, exercises and incidents. Staff must be debriefed while their memories are fresh and the lessons can be identified. However, the key to enhanced performance at any future incident is that those lessons identified are disseminated widely and policies, plans and procedures are reviewed to ensure that the lessons have been identified are learnt.

The ambulance service has such a Lessons Identified Debrief© process and all lessons are collated nationally and passed out to the various director level groups within the service with appropriate action plans and target dates.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Enhancement process now out for consultation will give greater powers to the LRFs and this, together with proposed changes to local and regional NHS services, is a period of considerable challenge for the NHS, the ambulance service and other responding agencies. www.wmas.nhs.uk www.eastamb.nhs.uk www.nwas.nhs.uk

Author: Anthony Marsh, Chief Executive, WMAS NHS Trust & Chair, NARB Author: Robert J Flute, Head of Resilience, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust & Chair, NARB Response Workstream Author: Paul Kudray, Assistant Director of Emergency Preparedness, NWAS NHS Trust & Chair, NARB Preparedness Workstream

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Trauma care is changing The provision and delivery of trauma care services in England is changing, including pre-hospital care. This article includes a historical perspective, the need for change and the current proposals.

In response to the high level of industrial trauma at the time, the world’s first trauma hospital was opened in Birmingham in 1941 – the Birmingham Accident Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre.

Inspired by the pioneering work of internationally renowned surgeons including William Gissane and Peter London this service led the field in clinical delivery and research into the 1970s. Its demise was due to its geographical location – as a stand-alone hospital it could not survive with surgical specialisation and without general medical support.

The trauma service subsequently transferred to Selly Oak Hospital and is currently based at the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Emergency medicine With the exception of the Birmingham Accident Hospital there has historically been an under provision of trauma facilities in the UK. Trauma and orthopaedic surgeons were invariably the caretaker consultants in charge of casualty departments prior to the welcome introduction of emergency medicine as a medical specialty in its own right.

In 1961 Osman-Clarke1, in a review of casualty services, recommended the development of a tripartite system based on peripheral casualty units, district general hospitals and regional major trauma units. The latter were never created and the district general hospital became the mainstay of accident and emergency service provision.

In 1979, seminal work on the benefit of introducing a trauma system was published in the USA, led by Donald Trunkey. It clearly demonstrated the benefit of centralising major trauma in terms of both reducing morbidity and mortality2.

In 1988 the Royal College of Surgeons of England produced a report on trauma deaths which suggested up to a third of all trauma deaths in England were preventable3. The report recommended that patients should be managed in an appropriate facility for their clinical need; and systems for patient transfer should be in place.

At this time paramedic training was introduced by the ambulance service and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) was introduced into hospital practice.

Between 1989 and 1991 the Government funded a study to investigate if concentrating major trauma at a single centre improved outcome. The study was set up at North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary (now University Hospital North Staffordshire) and was designed with a 50 percent chance of detecting an expected improvement of 33 percent in patient mortality (personal communication – Peter Oakley). The landmark change was the introduction of a consultant team leader in the emergency department 24 hours a day. However, the study preceded the introduction of paramedics and had no hospital bypass policies.

External evaluation revealed some improvement in mortality and morbidity in the 18-month study

period4. The Stoke experiment continued beyond the period of study. In 2004 Oakley reported that the mortality from major trauma had halved from 26.5 percent to 13 percent between 1992 and 1998 with an average fall of 2.3 percent year on year5. A further report produced by the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the British Orthopaedic Association highlighted continued shortcomings in care in 2000.

“I am confident the ambulance service and their paramedics will be able to deliver the level of care required and will play an important role in improving outcomes for trauma patients.”

A turning point The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) report entitled ‘Trauma – who cares?’ has proved to be a turning point in the provision of trauma services in England. This report retrospectively reviewed patients with an injury severity score of greater than 15 (major trauma) admitted to 183 hospitals in the United Kingdom between 1 February 2006 and 30 April 20066.

The reports of the findings are summarised in here: • 60 percent of patients received less than good practice • Only 17 hospitals in the UK have all clinical services on site • Better care is provided in centres with high volume patient numbers (57 percent v 39 percent) • 13.4 percent of patients received assessment/treatment errors in the emergency department (senior house officers 23.5 percent, consultants 3.1 percent) • One in five hospitals have no trauma team • 39.3 percent of hospitals have no resident anaesthetist at senior registrar level • One in four severely injured patients required a secondary transfer to receive definitive care • Mortality rate for severely injured patients alive to hospital was 40 percent higher in the UK compared to the USA. Next stage In 2008 the Government report ‘Next Stage Review’ was critical of the quality of services provided to trauma patients and recommended there should be high quality care for all and the

adoption of major trauma networks. In a landmark statement in the House of Lords on 7 January 2008, Lord Darzi gave the Government’s support to implementing change. He said, “We have taken on board the recommendations of the NCEPOD report, not necessarily just regarding pre-hospital admission. We also need to have, and define for the first time, dedicated trauma centres. It is one area in which there is clear evidence that centralisation of services, with adequate competencies at the receiving hospital will impact significantly on the quality of care.” In addition the then Health Minister, Ben Bradshaw, gave a statement of support for these changes in the House of Commons.

In 2008 Professor Keith Willett was appointed National Director for Trauma with a remit that included taking forward and developing the concept of trauma networks and major trauma centres. He established five clinical and patient advisory groups to produce quality improvements in the NHS and to agree options for consideration in England. The sub-groups were: Pre-hospital and inter-hospital transfer; Patient reception, emergency surgery/critical care; Network organisation; Ongoing care and reconstructive surgery; and Rehabilitation.

Further support for radical change came in the National Audit Office Report published in February 20107, the findings of which are summarised here: • Unquestionable evidence that trauma systems reduce mortality by 15-20 percent • 450-600 lives could be saved in England • Only 36 percent of patients requiring transfer for specialist care get transferred • Primary care trusts and ambulance services should determine major trauma centres • Submission of data to the Trauma Audit Research Network (TARN) should be mandatory • Inter-hospital transfer protocols should be established The need for change The case for change is clearly made in the NCEPOD and the National Audit Office reports.

Further evidence for change is self evident if you look at major head trauma where the death rate for comparable patients treated in non-neurosurgical centres compared with neurosurgical centres is 61 percent and 35 percent respectively.

In addition only 20 percent of patients requiring clot removal met the four-hour surgical target8.

The Department of Health, through Professor Keith Willett, have recommended that the key components/objectives in the provision of trauma care are: • To reduce death and disability following trauma • To identify major trauma patients at scene who are at risk of death and disability • To develop a system for the delivery of prehospital critical intervention

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50 | EMERGENCY MEDICINE • To ensure rapid dispatch to a Major Trauma Centre (MTC) for surgical management and critical care • To ensure availability of coordinated specialist reconstruction • To provide early targeted rehabilitation.

Optimal treatment should be available to everyone irrespective of geography and patients should be triaged to a hospital that can manage their clinical needs. If taken to a district general hospital (trauma unit) there should be robust protocols for inter-hospital transfer to the MTC. The NHS Advisory Group has published guidelines for Strategic Health Authorities (now passed onto their successors) on the requirements for a major trauma centre and trauma system.

These recommendations are summarised here: • Early patient identification • Senior paramedic in control coordinates major trauma 24/7 • Consultant level doctor support to the ambulance service 24/7 • Patients with injuries suggestive of major trauma are taken direct to the MTC • Patients within 45 minutes travel time are taken directly to the MTC • Patients with greater than 45 minutes may receive an enhanced care response on scene or in-transit or initial treatment in a trauma unit • Transfer between the trauma unit (TU) and the MTC should occur without delay • Secondary ED to MTC transfers should be provided by appropriately trained teams.

Major trauma patients will be identified using the American College of Surgeons Field Triage Tool, which simplified has four steps: Step 1 – deranged physiology Step 2 – anatomy of injury indicates that patients are at high risk Step 3 – mechanism of injury puts patient at high risk Step 4 – injuries with other high risk factors.

Safety net Over-triage is expected and is a safety net to ensure those patients needing to be at the MTC are taken directly there. Some trauma networks have been operational in London since April 2010. In one system the over triage has been approximately 3:1.

Longer pre-hospital times have minimal effect on trauma morbidity and mortality9. Beyond 45 minutes travelling time decisions can be made on a case-by-case basis involving the senior paramedic in control and the duty consultant medical advisor.

This doctor will be an experienced pre-hospital care practitioner. Additional critical care support to the scene or in transit may be provided by an Enhanced Care Team (ECT) or Intercept Team (these teams will include a doctor and paramedic all working as a team to deliver critical care competencies).

Depending on geography the patient may be taken to the nearest trauma unit for optimisation prior to onward transfer to the MTC without delay.

Within the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority boundary 87 percent of patients are within 45 minutes travelling time of University Hospital Birmingham, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire or University Hospital of North Staffordshire10.

In some areas the enhanced care team will be provided in daylight hours using a helicopter transport platform. At night the service will rely on road transport and some services are combining the enhanced care team with the HART team.

Strategic Health Authorities (and their successors) have been given a mandate from the Department of Health to establish trauma networks and systems Additional benefits Additional benefits of introducing regional trauma systems are summarised here, which details the service specification: • Trained trauma team 24/7 – consultant led in MTC • 24 hours access to fully staffed and equipped emergency theatre • Emergency radiology with co-located CT to the emergency department available 24/7. MRI available 24/7 • Emergency trauma surgery: – Performed by a consultant surgeon – Damage control principles – Acute surgery/interventional radiology within 60 minutes of arrival – Appropriate major haemorrhage protocols in place with transfusion specialist support • Neurosurgery/spinal cord injury: – Neurosurgical consultant available 24/7 – Patients with severe injury/spinal cord injury to be managed in neuro science centres irrespective of need for surgery – Agreed network protocols for whole spine assessment in major trauma patients • Ongoing care and reconstruction: – Development of trauma care coordination and structure – Co-location of patients with multiple or complex injuries in a dedicated major trauma ward – Development of rehabilitation services to optimise outcome • Rehabilitation: – Rehabilitation to start as soon as appropriate after admission

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– Effective rehabilitation includes access, coordination, service provision and resources – Rehabilitation and transfer is the responsibility of the network • Network organisation: – Inclusive regional trauma systems across England – Nationally accepted designation criteria – Boundaries of trauma system are based on the needs of the patient and not current NHS structures – Network takes responsibility for patient transfer – MTC prepared to accept immediate transfers without prior warning – Submission of full data to TARN – Performance framework to underpin quality improvements.

No two trauma systems and networks will look the same. What fits for London as an example will not fit in Cumbria. Strategic Health Authorities (and their successors) have been given a mandate from the Department of Health to establish trauma networks and systems. Bespoke solutions taking into account, for example, geography will be necessary. There will be longer mission times and travelling distances for ambulance crews and provided these requirements are appropriately funded I am confident the ambulance service and their paramedics will be able to deliver the level of care required and will play an important role in improving outcomes for trauma patients. www.fphc.info

References 1. Accident Services Review Committee of Great Britain and Ireland (Chairman: Sir Henry Osmond-Clarke). Interim Report. London: British Medical Association, 1961 2. West JG, Trunkey DO, Lim RG Systems of trauma: a study of two counties Arch Surg 1979: 114;45560 3. Report of the working party on the management of patients with major injury. Royal College of Surgeons of England, London 1988 4. Nichol JP et al Effectiveness of regional trauma system in reducing mortality from major trauma: before and after study BMJ (1997) 315:1349-1354 5. Oakley PA Longitudinal trends in trauma mortality and survival in Stoke-on-Trnt 1992-1998 Injury (2004) 35:379-385 6. Trauma: who cares? A report of the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death 2007 7. Major trauma care in England National Audit Office HC213 5 February 2010 8. Patel HC et al Trends in head injury outcome from 1989-2003 and the effect of neurosurgical care: an observational study on behalf of the Trauma Audit Research Network The Lancet (2005) 366:1538-44 9. McGuffie AC et al 2005 Scottish Urban versus Rural Trauma Outcome Study J Trauma 59 63238 10. Major Trauma Service Review Teamwork Report West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 2009

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Author: Professor Sir Keith Porter, Professor of Clinical Traumatology, Chairman, Faculty of Pre-hospital Care.

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Managing the medical response to casualties of suicide terrorism Magen David Adom (MDA) is Israel’s national emergency medical service (EMS), providing basic and advanced life support throughout the whole Israeli territory to its 7.7 million inhabitants. During the late 1990s and the beginning of 2000s the state of Israel suffered mass suicide terrorism waves. At its peak, in April 2004, the country suffered more than a suicide terrorist attack per week.

MDA operates a fleet of about 900 response vehicles – basic ambulances, advanced life support ambulances, multi-casualty response vehicles, all terrain vehicles, motorcycles and one helicopter. Its resources are dispatched through a designated free number (101) that generates the call in 11 operations centres in the country, supervised by one national and medical operations and supervision centre. Sixteen hundred paid staff with 12,000 volunteers responds to a daily average of 1300 calls.

Specific procedures The reality of such a high frequency of suicide terrorist attacks forced MDA to create specific response procedures to treat and evacuate the casualties.

These are the major lessons learned: 1. It might look like a battle zone but you are in the middle of the city: suicide terrorism targets the most populated areas. In these circumstances, hospitals are nearby and the general public plays a major role. Patients will not wait bleeding for ambulances, they will be auto evacuated. In order to be effective, vast resources should be deployed and fast enough to avoid traffic congestion.

2. It is a system of systems issue: in order to be effective the response modality has to be coordinated with all the other members – police and firefighters who will be working with you at the scene and the hospitals who will be receiving patients (at very short notice, if any).

3. Communications will fail: communications systems are designed based on ‘average +’ users using it simultaneously. If everybody is using the network – it will collapse. The same is true for the radio system. Have enough redundancies and strict policies for the use of the radio (not all the routine reports are necessary).

4. Need for flexibility: emergency planners, excellent as they are, cannot foresee every possible situation. Emergency procedures should be more ‘guidelines’ to be adapted to the reality by the responders on the scene, than strict roles.

5 ‘Cordon off’ is it possible? The Israeli experience is that the general public rush into the scene to help the injured. As long as there are victims on the scene, it is impossible to cordon it off effectively. This is why, in Israel EMS personnel will enter the ‘ground zero’ to perform life saving procedures and remove the patients as soon as possible to a safer area. Only after the patients have been removed can the scene can be sealed.

6. Safety perimeters: in the era where the secondary and tertiary devices or attackers are the threat, and the terrorists study your emergency procedures, there is no ‘safe distance’. Provide your responders with appropriate personal protective equipment, create a procedure with the bomb squad experts and teach your personnel how to work in this environment.

7. Trauma care: suicide terrorism victims suffer from blast and penetrating injuries from objects flying in high velocity (usually planted in the bomb to maximize the number and severity of casualties). The only place where these patients can be stabilised is an operating theatre of an appropriate hospital. In the urban environment these patients must be transported quickly and liaison with the hospitals must occur with regards to them being set as a top priority for the incident medical command.

8. Certificating death: official certification of the deceased should be performed as soon as possible, in order to facilitate further legal

procedures and enquiries (even in cases where the bodies are not identified and marked only by numbers).

9. Train, retrain and train again: the best way to prepare is to constantly train. Always conduct multi agency exercises with those agencies participating in the response. Arguments during simulation spare you the discussion during the incident; being on first name terms with the personnel you work with during incidents is priceless.

10. Take care of your people: emergency responders, although being ‘superheroes’ need to share their experiences and be reassured.

Emergency responders don’t like talking to psychologists. A ‘peer support system’ based on highly appreciated members of the team, with the needed training and required professional support (and if needed intervention) should be the answer.

For 60 years, Magen David Adom UK has been supporting the lifesaving work of the thousands of volunteers and paramedics in Israel. Through funds raised in the UK, the organisation has built and renovated stations across Israel, provided ambulances and blood mobiles, purchased medical supplies, and more. http://mdauk.org

Author: Chaim Rafalowski, Disaster Management Coordinator, Magen David Adom

Emergency Services Times August 2011

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Clinical governance in a county fire and rescue service The concept of clinical governance was initiated by the White Paper, ‘The New NHS, Modern, Dependable’ in December 1997. The aspiration was to have quality at the heart of the NHS with every employee taking responsibility to improve quality. This concept was further developed in the second White Paper, ‘A First Class Service – Quality in the New NHS’, July 1998, which defined it as a framework through which NHS organisations are accountable for continuously improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish.

The role of the fire and rescue service is now wide and varied, the introduction of the Fire and Rescue Act 2004 acknowledged the work currently being performed. One such example being that a fire and rescue authority must make provision for the purpose of: rescuing people in the event of road traffic accidents in its area; protecting people from serious harm, to the extent that it considers it reasonable to do so, in the event of road traffic accidents in its area.

National Occupational Standard Unit FF3 ‘Save and preserve endangered life’, states that firefighters should be competent in providing medical treatment to ‘assist with the stabilisation of the casualty’s condition and preservation of life’. This definition is open to interpretation and research carried out and published by Professor Sir Keith Porter quantifies the massive variations each fire and rescue service has in training standards, equipment selection and maintenance of competency and makes recommendations for improvement.

One common benchmark maintained by the majority of fire and rescue services is First Aid at Work, which meets the needs of injuries that occur within an office or fire station environment but falls short of giving firefighters the bespoke skills and knowledge they require to be able to effectively manage a patient trapped upside down in a car with a catastrophic haemorrhage and requiring assisted ventilations or managing a child that has been rescued from a house fire and on assessment is in cardiac arrest.

“Notable improvements can be seen to the skills of the staff, equipment carried, multi-agency relationships and patient experience.”

Specific expertise In 2008 Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS) introduced a clinical governance framework. One of the first objectives was to establish a clinical advisory group consisting of a small group of ‘experts’ selected for their specific expertise in pre-hospital care or their connection as

based and spread out over the year to reduce skill fade. Clinical advisory group members conduct regular audits ranging from the contents of a trauma pack to skill retention of personnel in CPR and patient assessment. Audits are presented at clinical advisory group meetings and an appropriate audit cycle is followed.

a key stakeholder. A thorough assessment allowed the group to identify areas of good practice and make recommendations of areas that could be developed to improve the patient experience further.

Malvern is home to the famous Malvern Hills and attracts visitors from across the country.

Malvern is also home to HWFRS Rope Rescue Team, which was identified during our assessment as a specialist group with the potential to have a greater impact in patient treatment. A business case was approved by the Senior Management Board which has seen the team undergo a bespoke Line Access Specialist Trauma Course and then complete the Royal College of Surgeons accredited Pre-hospital Trauma Course (PHTC). Training is delivered by a paramedic and externally assessed by our Medical Advisor. The equipment selected allows the patient to be packaged while safe systems of work are being implemented. Once the patient is brought to the surface they are packaged and ready for transportation.

Station-based personnel receive a bespoke peripatetic trauma training package delivered by a team of 16 trauma trainers who themselves underwent a lengthy selection process before being trained to First Person on Scene Intermediate, PHTC and having annual training, assessment and CPD to maintain. The trauma training is modular

Patient Report Form Another key development has been the implementation of a Patient Report Form (PRF), which demonstrates what skills have been performed by the firefighters treating a patient.

Data from the PRF is collected on a database and combined with other sources of information such as police accident data. This allows us to critically appraise casualty extrication times, which interventions our crews are performing and what equipment is being used. Every PRF is reviewed and the database is continually scrutinised to identify trends or opportunities to improve the patient experience.

Joint training takes place with colleagues from other emergency services and the latest development has been to implementation of a multi-agency debrief form. Following an RTC, colleagues from other emergency services can provide information on a debrief form and send it to us electronically. This allows for a more valuable debrief with all sources of information available.

While we are still in the early stages of our clinical governance experience notable improvements can be seen to the skills of the staff, equipment carried, multi-agency relationships and patient experience. www.hwfire.org.uk

Authors: Simon Cusack, Paramedic, Watch Commander, HWFRS & Dr J Hall DIMC RCS(Ed), Hon Senior Clinical Lecturer in Emergency Care, University of Birmingham and Medical Advisor, HWFRS.

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Gore guarantees quality standards Advances in protective clothing over the last 10 years have resulted in many more suppliers promoting a huge range of different textiles designed for a variety of end uses. Promises of quality and performance are one thing, but proof is another. Untested, low cost garments that are manufactured in uncontrolled conditions can compromise performance and result in injury.

As the manufacturer of the famous high performance waterproof, breathable, durable GORE-TEX® fabrics for the emergency services, Gore operates a comprehensive quality assurance programme. That process starts in-house with product testing and extends throughout the supply chain to ensure that garments manufactured with Gore fabrics meet stringent performance standards.

Unique to industry Starting with the promise that the garment must be ‘Fit for Use’, the company uses an integrated development chain, which is unique in the industry, to ensure that its products live up to their performance promise.

Gore’s own test labs are comparable to those used in many of the independent institutes and in many cases the company has developed specific test methods where previously no standardised tests existed.

In any garment the weakest point for entry of water is the seam. Even the highest performing products, such as GORE-TEX® fabrics cannot guarantee that the wearer will remain dry if critical points, like the seams, are ignored. Gore has developed its own proprietary GORE-SEAM® tapes and seam sealing technology to ensure the integrity of the garment.

Gore has developed unique climate chambers and rain towers to simulate a variety of environmental conditions.

Only manufacturers licensed by Gore can use the seam sealing technology and they must complete the necessary competency certifications before manufacturing commences.

Manufacturing standards Companies that make Gore products must comply with Gore Manufacturing Standards. These standards require the manufacturer to comply with specific quality levels for machinery used in the manufacturing process.

Every Gore product has to satisfy a stringent

testing regime before it is made available to the market. Gore has developed unique climate chambers and rain towers to simulate a variety of environmental conditions.

When it comes to specifying protective clothing for first responders there should never be any compromise on performance or quality. Gore’s stringent process for quality assurance ensures that buyers who specify GORE-TEX® fabrics can have absolute confidence in the integrity of the garment and that it is completely fit for purpose. www.gore.com

The AFSA support network The Asian Fire Service Association (AFSA) is a support network for fire and rescue service staff that works with the national fire and rescue service, and supporting agencies, to assist them in the achievement of their equality and diversity commitments to communities, staff, service users and partners.

AFSA is an inclusive group that welcomes members from all backgrounds that wish to work with the organisation towards achieving its aims and objectives. In the last eight years the association has grown from a London-based staff support group to an inclusive national association that provides support to Asian and non Asian individuals; all sharing the same core values.

AFSA has adopted the core values of the fire and rescue service, which are: service to the community; people; diversity; and improvement. The association is committed to making these values a real and considered part of its development and progress and is committed to working with its stakeholders to ensure that its action plans and initiatives have real purpose, are outcome focused and meet the tenets of the core values.

The growth of AFSA has enabled it to provide excellent consultation to individual fire and rescue

services, the Government and other partners in helping them to make positive progress on equalities to enhance the working environment and safety of the people they serve and employ.

It has increased the development of new policies and strategies ranging from recruitment, community fire safety and PPE and clothing. Also, AFSA has undertaken social research with an aim of promoting the fire and rescue service as an employer of choice. Recently the association has succeeded in supporting Communities and Local Government (CLG) to secure an agreement to have the FireKills logo placed on Asian food products with East End foods.

AFSA has also initiated viable links with Fire Service Ministers, past and present, and the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) Presidents, to work on strategic issues. It has also formed robust strategic relationships with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Networking Women in the Fire Service

(NWFS), a range of community groups and other groups outside the fire and rescue service, such as the BME networks in the NHS, ambulance service and the police.

Documents have also been published that support diversity in communities, such as the Community Handbook, Islam awarness guidance booklet, a Multi Faith Calendar and an Equality and Diversity significant dates calender to support the planning of risk reduction activity.

AFSA has also raised significant funds for charities and international aid, including: working with Macmillan Cancer to raise awareness of breast cancer in the Asian Community; taking part in Operation Florian with the Fire Service College to deliver a fire appliance and training in Tanzania; and taking part in the Fire Schools Safety Project in Uganda.

Membership for all Membership is open to all employees of the fire and rescue service in the form of Corporate Membership, Individual Membership and Associate Membership for non-fire and rescue service employees. . www.afsa.co.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

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In brief . . .

Communications Solutions UK, the local distributor for Australian manufacturer, Polaris Communications, has won a tender let by West Yorkshire Police to supply all of its regional contact centres with headsets. The supplier recommended the Soundpro Wideband headset that is widely used in call centres throughout Australia.

West Yorkshire Police identified the headset as providing excellent value for money, quality, comfort and extended warranty. www.com-solutions.co.uk

Dr David Lockey, London’s Air Ambulance Consultant & Trustee and Research & Development lead, has been made Honorary Professor of Trauma and Prehospital Emergency Medicine by the University of Bristol.

This is believed to be the only Professorial appointment in the UK in the new medical speciality of Prehospital Emergency Medicine.

Professor Lockey joined London’s Air Ambulance in 1997 and has played a significant role in driving the delivery of advanced Prehospital Care to patients throughout the UK. He is also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Queen Mary College London and has written many papers in the field of prehospital trauma care.

Three new fire appliances roll into Cheshire Cheshire Fire Authority has invested almost £1m in the purchase of three new fire appliances.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has taken delivery of the three Scania CP31 appliances, designed to ensure fire crews can get to incidents as quickly and safely as possible. One each will be based at Crewe, Northwich and Runcorn Fire Stations.

The Scania CP31 has, incorporated into its design, the latest technology, lightweight and recyclable bodywork, a carbon efficient engine giving off lower emissions, easily accessible rescue ladders and equipment lockers, and a large capacity water loading and pump.

The bodywork, fitted by John Dennis Coachbuilders, is made of

www.secamb.nhs.uk

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority has confirmed that Chief Fire Officer Tony McGuirk and Deputy Chief Fire Officer Mike Hagen are to retire in the autumn. Both principal officers had agreed last year to stay on beyond their retirement dates to help the transition to a new senior management team. The fire authority will be announcing a new management structure in the near future. www.merseyfire.gov.uk

One of the three new Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Scania CP31 fire appliances.

recyclable polymer, which, being lightweight, gives greater speed efficiency when responding to emergencies.

This particular bodywork also provides the option to ‘second-life’ the body on to a new chassis after 13 years – the general operational life of a fire appliance – reducing the cost of the next generation of appliances.

It has a 320bhp Euro-5 environmentally friendly engine and sits on a 4.3m wheelbase. www.cheshirefire.gov.uk

BAWP appoints new National Coordinator

www.londonsairambulance.co.uk

A South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) paramedic has reached the second stage of the nomination process to be one of the London 2012 Olympic torchbearers. Paramedic Practitioner Jeanette Yeoell from Hastings was nominated for her heroic actions when in November 2009 she broke down the door to a burning house to rescue an elderly woman who had been badly burnt. Jeanette now has a one in 14 chance of being selected to take part. She will learn if she has been successful during the week beginning 5 December 2011.

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The British Association for Women in Policing (BAWP) has appointed its first police staff member to the fulltime role of National Coordinator.

Parwinder Dale from the Metropolitan Police started her new job on 1 August, replacing Inspector Tracey Moynihan who returns to the Met after two years.

Parwinder brings to BAWP a wealth of experience in people management and diversity having spent the past six years in the Met’s human resources department.

She said, “BAWP is an organisation inclusive to all women and has representatives from many different forces, so by coming together collectively, they have a stronger voice to raise awareness of the issues they face in the police service every day.

“BAWP is also appealing and inspirational to me as it provides a platform for women to overcome the hurdles they face and help progress forward in their roles. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Motorola Solutions has provided interoperable Motorola TETRA (TErrestrial Trunked RAdio) digital radio systems for police and emergency services in the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The new systems will allow Jersey and Guernsey to collaborate more effectively in public safety provision and emergency situations, safeguarding more than 158,000 residents.

By uniting the two TETRA systems, Motorola solutions will help emergency services personnel in Jersey and Guernsey to more efficiently safeguard public safety by expanding the networks’ coverage and improving the tracking of seagoing vessels and craft, while reducing the cost of supporting their communications networks.

www.bawp.org

New legal services provision for St John Ambulance Oxley & Coward Solicitors LLP of Rotherham has won a contract for the provision of commercial property legal services for St John Ambulance.

The company will now represent St John Ambulance in relation to all its property transactions involving both its existing properties and the acquisition of any new properties across the north of England (including the counties of Durham, Northumbria, Humberside, North Yorkshire, South and West Yorkshire, Teesside, Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside).

St John Ambulance has a mixed portfolio of over 100 properties in these

Jersey and Guernsey launch interoperable TETRA networks

counties. Their buildings are used to train members of the public and volunteers in first aid so they can be the difference between life and death.

David Heelas, Head of Property at St John Ambulance, said, “We were impressed by Oxley & Coward’s highly professional yet personal approach throughout the tender process. We know that we are dealing with a firm which understands our needs and which has the capabilities and expertise to deliver in this part of the country.” www.oxcow.co.uk www.sja.org.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

The new systems will allow both communities access to an enhanced coverage area, including an area of the English Channel that separates Jersey and Guernsey. This enhancement will allow emergency services personnel to carry out cliff rescues in areas that previously did not have radio coverage.

While Jersey has upgraded its TETRA system, which was installed

by Motorola 10 years ago as one of the first TETRA systems in the world, Guernsey’s TETRA network has replaced the previous system. Additionally, the two states have signed service contracts for 10 years, including maintenance and repair. www.motorola.com/tetra

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YAS fills HR post Met Police endorses new cycle

register for London

Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) NHS Trust has appointed Stephen Moir as Executive Director of Workforce and Strategy. With 15 years of experience in HR, Stephen will be responsible for organisational strategy, human resources, organisational development, equality and diversity and workforce education, training and development at the region’s ambulance service.

Stephen has extensive experience of working in a broad range of senior management and human resources roles across the public sector, having worked in a number of local authorities and police forces in both England and Scotland. His most recent role prior to joining YAS was as Corporate Director for People, Policy and Law at Cambridgeshire County Council. www.yas.nhs.uk

GMP selects workforce management solution Sabio, the specialist contact centre and unified communications systems integrator, has won a contract to supply a Workforce Management (WFM) solution to Greater Manchester Police’s Operational Communications Branch. Based on Verint’s Impact 360 Workforce Management software, the Sabio solution is part of Greater Manchester Police’s ongoing Centralised Resource Management strategy. The solution will support the force’s drive to optimise contact centre staffing levels, and realise significant back-office savings by securing a 50 percent reduction in overtime hours required over the next four years.

In addition to reducing contact centre staff overtime levels, the new WFM solution will also support Greater Manchester Police (GMP) with the integration of previously separate resource management teams. www.gmp.police.uk www.sabio.co.uk

BikeRegister has been chosen as both the preferred cycle register and bike marking product for London by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

Operated by Selectamark, BikeRegister is a leading online registration initiative aiming to reduce bike theft and assist in owner recovery.

According to MPS statistics, 45,000 bikes were stolen across all London boroughs in the last two years. In the past year the Metropolitan Police Service’s Cycle Task Force have marked over 12,000 bikes in London using BikeRegister products. There has already been a 5% reduction in cycle theft to April 2011 compared to the previous 12 months.

BikeRegister will now supply the MPS with its bike marking kits and

secure online registration service (www.bikeregister.com).

One of the main deciding factors for BikeRegister winning the contract as the MPS’s preferred bike marking product and cycle register was the fact that patrolling officers were easily able to identify a BikeRegister mark without the need for any specialist equipment, making immediate action against suspected bike thieves possible. www.bikeregister.com

South Yorkshire Chief Constable announces retirement South Yorkshire Police Authority has agreed to the Chief Constable’s request to retire, with effect from 9 October 2011.

Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes has been in the position since September 2004, having previously been Deputy Chief Constable with South Yorkshire Police. He has been instrumental in forging strong and positive relationships and between the police and key partner agencies.

Charles Perryman, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Authority, said, “Agreeing to this retirement will provide the authority with the opportunity to appoint a new Chief Constable before the election of a Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2012.

This will ensure continuity of leader-

Surrey Police has selected gazetteer specialist Aligned Assets to supply the service with software from its Symphony Bluelight suite of emergency services products. Similar to Aligned Assets’ SinglePoint solution that is well-established at British Transport Police, Surrey Police will be using the advanced web services in SinglePoint to act as a bridge between their gazetteer data and names data, pulling them together and giving access to both through their new enterprise-wide IT solution. The new IT system, provided by Memex, will link all recorded information and intelligence across the force. Key for Surrey Police was the ability for existing data to become universally accessible and through SinglePoint they can have all gazetteer and names data accessible via a central source. www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight

West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) is to invest over half a million pounds on new life saving equipment.

The £550,000 investment will see the trust buying 70 defibrillators for its frontline emergency vehicles from US firm ZOLL. Over the past 10 years, the company has supplied WMAS with more than 700 defibrillators. This order will see 58 of the E-series defibs on new WMAS frontline ambulances and rapid response vehicles (RRVs). In addition the trust is buying 12 of the smaller AED (automated external defibrillator) Pros. www.wmas.nhs.uk

ship at a time of great change and challenging financial difficulties which are facing policing, not only in South Yorkshire but across the UK. We wish Med Hughes well for the future.” www.southyorks.police.uk

South East Coast Ambulance Service secures £13m RBS funding package The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has provided a £13m funding package to the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) as it sets out on a new phase in its history as a Foundation Trust. SECAmb, handles all 999 calls from the Surrey, Sussex and Kent public. It is SECAmb’s vision to become a world leader in pre-hospital emergency care.

The working capital facility provided

by RBS Corporate & Institutional Banking enabled SECAmb to meet the strict financial criteria required to achieve Foundation Trust status and provides it with a working capital facility.

In brief . . .

Sharon Stemp, Director, Client Coverage, RBS Corporate & Institutional Banking added, “We have supported some 34 NHS trusts prior to working with SECAmb, providing facilities in respect of their applications for NHS Foundation Trust status. This is a key area for us and we have built up a considerable level of expertise within it. We have been very impressed with SECAmb’s vision for the ambulance service and its desire to provide high quality and innovative patient care across the region.” www.rbs.co.uk/corporate www.secamb.nhs.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Sussex Police has donated two vehicles to Sussex volunteer search and rescue charities that will assist in the search for vulnerable missing people in the county. The two vehicles, which are ex-operational police vans, have been given to Sussex Search and Rescue (SusSAR) and Lowland Search Dogs Sussex (LSD Sx) who are both routinely called upon by Sussex Police.

The search groups help with the search for anyone who is identified by police as vulnerable or at risk. www.sussex.police.uk

The Fire Fighters Charity, the UK’s leading provider of life-enhancing services for the fire and rescue service community, has announced the appointment of John Parry as its new Chief Executive Officer. Mr Parry completed his 30-year serving career as Chief Fire Officer of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and Executive Officer with Oxfordshire County Council. www.firefighterscharity.org.uk

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Shared ambition The England and Wales’ emergency services face a very tough financial challenge over the next few years. Police forces have been handed cuts of 20 percent by 2014/15, ambulance services are being expected to make efficiencies, and the fire and rescue service is, on average, receiving 25 percent cuts to grant over that period.

West Midlands Fire Service faces the toughest challenge of any fire and rescue service in the country; a cut of up to 50 percent of grant, which equates to 37 percent to our total budget over the next four years. West Midlands Ambulance is aiming to cut its call rates by 10 percent or 200,000 per year in an effort to save money and prioritise responses.

“Emergency services are going to need to work with one another much more closely.”

This situation means that all blue light services will need to radically rethink their approach to service provision, including a more in depth engagement with partners. The Government has outlined as part of the ‘Big Society’ project its desire to see services adopt innovative ways of delivering services, including partnership with public, private and third sector groups. WMFS are exploring a wide range of these opportunities, from private sector sponsorship to utilising social enterprises to deliver fire safety education. Perhaps more obviously, emergency services are going to need to work with one another much more closely.

Close collaboration Fortunately, WMFS and WMAS already have a strong track record of collaboration, with both services learning valuable lessons from one another.

Ambulances services have led the way in diversifying their approach to emergency response, utilising a variety of vehicles employing them flexibly across the West Midlands region. Fire and

rescue services have traditionally used Pump Rescue Ladders for every form of incident. We are now looking into using a variety of smaller appliances, including motorbikes, to deal with smaller or more specialised incidents. We are already trialling a new Automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) vehicle, and have made use of a Targeted Response Vehicle to respond to grass fires in two hotspot areas in the conurbation for the past few years.

Conversely, prevention has been a core part of the fire and rescue service approach for over two decades. WMFS delivers prevention activity in an enormous number of innovative ways, and has had great success in driving down call rates. Total incidents between 1996/7 and 2010/11 have

reduced by 43 percent, and property fires over the same period have reduced by an even more impressive 63 percent. Ambulance services, WMAS included, have recognised a need to reduce their call rates to ensure they are able to maintain services to those most in need. The fire and rescue service’s wide-ranging approach could be applied here in order to embed this message, be it through innovative education or by specialist intervention.

Working together Our partnership is about more than learning lessons from one another; we have also achieved a great deal by working together. Joint training has proved to be both cost efficient and has delivered more effective outcomes. Ambulance personnel now make use of our academy facility, working with our expert staff to improve their capabilities, meaning that fire and ambulance personnel are better able to work together when it really matters.

We have continued to share our facilities, with ambulances based on fire stations, joint training exercises and a whole array of other interesting propositions. However, talking about this approach is easy, but success will need to be underpinned by planning, resourcing, leadership and an acknowledgement of how different cultures can sometimes get in the way of progress.

All in all, this is a challenging time for leadership at every level in every service. We must ensure that we are equal to the task. As far as West Midlands Fire Service and West Midlands Ambulance Service concerned, I am confident that we are. www.wmfs.net

Author: Vij Randaniya, Chief Fire Officer, West Midlands Fire Service.

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Productivity – get it right!

From police forces to fire and rescue services, chief officers in the emergency services sector are assessing just how to cope with an escalating workload with a fast declining budget and significant cuts in personnel. Leveraging mobile technologies to cut costs is an excellent strategy, but strong cooperation between IT, procurement and finance will be key to achieving a workable, secure and appropriate solution that delivers both financial benefits and productivity gains.

Cloud computing, flexible working and freeing up office space by enabling individuals to work from home offer significant benefits, but have a down side for mobile users. Laudable attempts to fast track change in the public sector are now revealing real productivity problems – from unforeseen end user impact of intermittent mobile connections to devices that are not locked down and that pose significant security concerns.

data when the wireless link fails, many of the recent mobile deployments are causing major concerns.

The issue is not only lost productivity but also damaged morale. Individuals that continually struggle to complete day-to-day tasks due to technology failure become rapidly disgruntled, which further undermines their commitment and productivity.

Cost v Productivity As the public sector cuts continue to bite, the emergency services are taking positive, often radical, steps to transform efficiency and effectiveness. But these strategies have got to work – and fast. The key is for end user behaviour, when away from the office, to be exactly the same as it would be in the office. There is no point closing offices and offering staff the chance to work from home if they have poor access to corporate services; if mobile connectivity is continually dropping out; or if the remote solution is so inherently and irreparably insecure that it jeopardises essential GSi Code of Connection (CoCo) compliance.

“It is simply not feasible to relocate several hundred employees from office to home or mobile working without considering the associated security and productivity implications.”

Yet such problems are now endemic. Police forces, fire and rescue services and emergency medical services have all been forced to make such rapid change – implementing new mobile and remote working strategies without the usual pilot studies – that many of these issues are now coming to the fore to threaten promised project return on investment, and often leading to systems being boycotted by disgruntled users.

The result is that while financial benefits are being delivered, these organisations are now discovering huge productivity problems. From the remote administrative staff in the police industry being forced to re-authenticate up to seven times every day because the connection back to the central system keeps failing, to emergency medical staff filling in an electronic form only to lose all the

Photo: iStockphoto | © PeskyMonkey

Procurement model Given the huge financial challenges presently facing the emergency services sector, rapid decisionmaking is to be applauded. And in many ways, it is understandable that organisations embraced these strategies with little insight into the associated risks, especially given the widespread perception that internet access is ubiquitous. But the promise of ubiquitous access is simply not true.

Many of the rural areas that have to be covered by emergency services employees have poor mobile communications. In addition, standard wireless and cellular networks are inherently insecure, and platforms like the Windows Mobile operating system have proven vulnerabilities.

The way in which these strategies have been implemented also reflects the clear shift in IT procurement process that has occurred in recent years. Over the past decade, IT has lost ground, firstly in the drive towards best value and latterly as cost cutting has become a priority: the emphasis has been on like-for-like replacement with price being the primary deciding factor.

But the emergency services are moving into a new way of working and IT knowledge is now critical. For example, police forces cannot afford to jeopardise CoCo or Criminal Justice Extranet (CJX) compliance due to insecure mobile connections and a lack of encryption, when CoCo is a prerequisite of access to central government databases.

Strong cooperation In this fast changing environment there is a clear need for strong cooperation between IT, finance and procurement. Police forces and fire and rescue organisations alike no longer require the lowest price on a like-for-like replacement of 300 PCs. The requirement now is more likely to be a mixture of PCs, thin client devices, notebooks with docking stations, and ruggedised tablets for those working in the field – a mix that drives the best returns for the business.

Increasingly IT has a powerful role to play in field testing these technologies in real-world scenarios, rapidly proving the concept and evaluating the business benefits.

IT expertise is required not only in determining the specific hardware requirements of each user but also to put in place the additional technology layers required to maximise productivity and security.

From encrypted hard drives for portable equipment to additional communications layers to prevent the connection drop outs that demand reauthentication and cause data loss. It is only by combining a best value approach to technology procurement, with real insight into the viability of using these technologies in practice, that these emergency services organisations have a chance of realising these positive strategies for cost reduction.

Conclusion The use of mobile technology is compelling for every police force, every fire and rescue organisation and every emergency medical team across the emergency services sector. But blithely handing out top specification iPad2s left, right and centre, (often referred to as ‘executive jewellery’) is not only tough to justify to the electorate, but also highly unlikely to either release cash or improve productivity. At the same time, it is simply not feasible to relocate several hundred employees from office to home or mobile working without considering the associated security and productivity implications.

Emergency services organisations need to balance pragmatism with a real understanding of the requirements of a fast changing environment. The issue is not about buying the latest mobile and remote technologies to support a flexible workforce.

It is about understanding the day-to-day requirements of this workforce and taking a smarter approach to procurement to ensure data remains secure, connectivity is constant and hardware appropriate to meet the challenging productivity demands now being faced across every part of the emergency services sector. www.stonegroup.co.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Author: Simon Pettit, Corporate Director at Stone.

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Employee support – assisting the ‘survivors’ of the budget cuts In the wake of the recession, even with the economy showing signs of growth, organisations still have to cut costs to survive and, as public sector budgets continue to tighten, emergency service organisations are tasked with delivering more for less.

Over one third of employers report that stressrelated absence has increased over the past year and with the highest level of unemployment since 1998, job uncertainty provides an easily understood form of stress when the threat of restructure or redundancy appears.

What is often overlooked is the resulting pressure placed on the ‘survivors’ who are lucky to remain in work but face increased workload, organisational changes and restructuring, as well as the fear of losing their job at the next wave of redundancies.

The need to work hard and perform well can cause extreme, ongoing stress. So, what about those ‘survivors’ who are left behind and what support should be in place for managers and their teams?

The impact that this can have on organisations and their employees is enormous and new measures are needed to reduce stress in the workplace as well as support those who are unfortunately displaced from their current role.

Distance based employment support services can deliver the solution. If implemented properly, with structured monitoring procedures, it can in fact provide a powerful and cost effective platform for delivering support to high volumes of staff.

It is now possible to combine software intelligence with human interaction and sector knowledge to offer outstanding capabilities that can really engage employees in a way once deemed impossible without face-to-face interaction. The reality is that in this digital age people are often more comfortable using IT methods at a time and pace convenient to them.

A well structured distance based support programme can provide tailored support to individuals throughout the entire process; whether that be redeployment, redundancy or career advancement, maximising the chances of sustaining employment where employees will be happy and fulfilled. Any successful support programme must now have as much focus on career advancement as job retention. Career advancement can mean moving from a temporary to a permanent role, negotiating a pay rise, advancing in their career or acquiring new skills that allow the employee to perform better in their role.

Sustainable employment Renovo’s Career Assistance Programme takes the employee on a ‘journey’ from initial skills analysis and job suitability through to support at work, acquiring new skills and progressing in their career.

It effectively allows the customer to progress from supported through to unsupported, sustainable employment.

The programme consists of three key elements: 1. 24-hour support lines providing advice and guidance on redundancy, job retention issues, emotional, debt and legal advice and career change and advancement coaching 2. Each customer is assigned their own dedicated Work Coach who will support them throughout the programme, mediating with their employer where necessary 3. Access to ‘Workfriend’, Renovo’s online portal which enables the user to receive online support in the form of written, video and audio resources on a range of issues across their work and home life, and their health.

It is important to ensure maximum inclusion with access to the programme through all interactive methods. Online learning assistance should also be supported with e-mail, phone app, text and, of course, telephone interaction with a dedicated work coach.

Helping those who have been impacted by change can help to significantly reduce stress levels, improve moral and motivation, which, in turn, helps organisations ‘deliver more for less’. http://renovo.uk.com

Author: Amanda Nichols, Director, Employment Services, Renovo Employment Group Limited

Sharing the cost of new technology Public sector organisations across the UK are facing a very difficult challenge; they must cut costs, while improving services. We’re seeing a big trend towards shared services with many public sector bodies, including emergency services, looking to improve frontline services by pooling resources together and jointly procuring the technology that can help them to do their jobs more effectively.

By coming together as a unified force, emergency services can share infrastructure, processes, services and procurement, all in a bid to maximise efficiency and make their investment work much harder. Often this unified approach can give public sector organisations access to new technologies that previously would have been unaffordable.

Public safety Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has procured a wide area network that will enable it to share services with other councils and fire and rescue services across the country, including its close neighbour Kent Fire and Rescue Service. The sharing of services is not just helping Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to cut costs; it’s enabling the organisation to work more intelligently when fighting fires. By giving firefighters access to the latest technology they can access risks more effectively and quickly, which ultimately means

that they are in a better position to keep their colleagues and the public safe.

Shared services can also enable organisations to procure services such as video and teleconferencing or unified communications, which can significantly improve communication and collaboration across organisations.

Information assurance For the public sector, information assurance is of upmost importance. The Government deals with vast amounts of very sensitive data on a day-to-day basis and cannot afford for any of it to fall into the wrong hands. With shared services, the security and integrity of data is even more important as information can be passed to and accessed by several organisations. Public sector CIOs must therefore look very carefully at the security accreditations gained by IT vendors and service providers when procuring technologies.

To keep information as secure as possible, the public sector has created standards for different elements of their security and network infrastructure – for a network provider like Virgin Media Business, that means the Next Generation Network (NGN) 2-2-4 and NGN 3-3-4 accreditations. The NGN standards show a dedication to keeping information confidential. The

2-2-4 standard is appropriate for local authorities while 3-3-4 builds on the integrity and confidentiality of 2-2-4 to serve higher security bodies, like the police.

With so many different accreditations to look out for, it can be confusing. To make procurement easier for public sector organisations the Government recently announced the creation of the Government Procurement Service Managed Telecommunications Convergence Framework (MTCF). This new framework acts as a one-stop shop for public sector organisations, offering a selection of tried and tested Public Services Network (PSN) compliant technologies.

More cost effective With security accreditations confirmed, organisations are free to procure the innovative technologies that they need to deliver a better and more cost effective service to the public. As we move towards a more collaborative and effective public sector all organisations, including emergency services, should consider working together through shared service strategies. www.virginmediabusiness.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Author: Gerry Arthurs, Head of Public Sector, Virgin Media Business.

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64 | TECHNOLOGY

In brief . . .

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Voice recording – the right solution

Sepura has been awarded a £1m contract by Staffordshire Police for both hand portable and mobile terminals. This win cements an eightyear relationship with the force, confirming Staffordshire’s satisfaction with Sepura’s products. Staffordshire completes the quartet of Midlands’ regional constabularies, with West Midlands, West Mercia and Warwickshire also benefiting from Sepura TETRA radios. Sepura’s SRH3900 and SRG3900 radios have proved to be a winning combination for the Staffordshire force. www.sepura.com

APD Communications has announced an innovative agreement with CISCO, which will enable APD to provide increased resilience and intelligent call routing, allowing organisations with high-volume call centres to make substantial efficiency gains. Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service and Wiltshire Police have agreed to implement APD’s ‘hosted’ CORTEX ICCS service, allowing them to increase the efficiency of emergency and non-emergency call handling. www.apdcomms.com

Steria has announced the extension of its shared services partnership with Cleveland Police Authority, which will deliver additional savings in excess of £9m. Concurrently, Steria has officially opened the new Shared Services Centre in Stockton, which will house the force’s finance, HR, procurement, fleet and facilities functions. A number of additional support services will be delivered alongside those undertaken by Steria at the start of the 10-year contract, which commenced in October 2010. Effective from 1 July 2011, Steria’s remit includes centralising Crime Management units in each of the four force districts and merging with the control room, as well as civilianising a newly combined Risk and Operational Planning unit that will handle emergency and event planning together with risk assessment and safety. www.steria.com

Varlink, the York-based specialist distributor of mobile computing and associated barcode products, has been appointed as a distributor of Brother mobile solutions products. Brother’s range of mobile print products includes its new PocketJet range, the company’s first range of mobile A4 printers.

Varlink will work directly with Brother to launch the new range. www.varlink.co.uk

Red Box Recorders works with a significant number of emergency services organisations providing voice recording systems to monitor communication between them and the public including emergency (999) calls and command and control (Airwave radio) communications. As a result the company understands the specialist requirements of UK emergency services contact centres, and the challenges they face in choosing the right voice recording systems.

In the past, traditional voice recording systems have been technology heavy requiring considerable involvement from IT departments, but the majority of public sector organisations have ever shrinking IT resources that are already massively overstretched.

The Red Box solution utilises a unique technology offering with a single software-based system that can be implemented modularly, meaning excellent budgetary control. It is completely web-based for ease of use and fast roll-out and its simplicity

means that operational personnel rather than the IT specialists can manage it. Customers can use their own hardware to maximise buying power if they prefer, or opt for full turnkey solution for streamlined procurement and support.

As with all new capital investment it is important that any solution purchased is as future-proof as possible.

Scalability is a must as your system needs to be able to grow as your organisation grows and enable changes of interface as your telephony and radio systems change. You should also be able to add functionality as and when you require it such as audio analytics, quality management and screen recording, which will allow you to fulfill requirements from the different functions and operational needs across the organsiation, with the same core investment. The Red Box solution, the company says, enables you to do all this simply, efficiently and cost effectively. www.redboxrecorders.com

Tracking personnel when GPS unavailable Cassidian used the TETRA World Congress 2011 in Budapest, Hungary to demonstrate its innovative technology that can track the indoor position of radio users such as firefighters and police officers at locations where conventional GPS-based positioning does not work, for example inside buildings or in tunnels.

Unlike traditional Wi-Fi indoor positioning, the indoor positioning solution presented by Cassidian and its partners does not require an expensive and difficult network set-up in advance. It is also able to measure the health status of the persons on the field, such as the advanced heartbeat as a stress level indicator.

The solution demonstrated uses an accelerometer and a gyroscope (MEMS sensors, micro-electro-

mechanical systems) to measure the movements and pinpoint the position of a person where there is no GPS signal. The positioning data is then transferred via the secure TEDSenabled TETRA network, which can provide significantly faster data speed and capacity without compromising coverage, security, privacy, or confidentiality, to a positioning application that is tracking the field units.

The demonstration formed part of the Sinetra Euripides programme – a European programme with the aim of building Integrated Smart Systems in highly diverse and complementary fields of application such as automotive, aeronautics, medtec and global security. www.cassidian.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Securely capture and manage photographs Airwave has partnered with Timico Mobile to deliver a photo management solution that securely captures and manages photographs using PDAs or BlackBerry™ devices.

Designed to work as a support tool in conjunction with the existing radio communication infrastructure that is already in place, Timico’s hand-e-pix application is a mobile photo management solution that can be used by customers to collect a combination of images, locations and data.

According to David Sangster, UK services director at Airwave, “With hand-e-pix the user can quickly and easily take an image and add notes to the image, which is also stamped with the time and date, user’s ID and GPS location coordinates. Images are then locked down to preserve their evidential integrity.”

David went on to say that the images can be automatically sent and stored on the back office photo management suite and can only be retrieved using secure access.

According to Nick Taylor, Timico Business Development Manager, “The hand-e-pix application is already being used successfully by the West Yorkshire Police and Essex Police and has been acknowledged to provide real business improvement and measurable savings.”

Airwave and Timico will work with early adopters, at no extra cost, to examine and measure current working practices and restrictions and then look at how hand-e-pix can enable true business change. www.airwavesolutions.co.uk

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Portable 3G base station

Crisis management software

Roke Manor Research has launched ‘Tactical Connect’, a portable wireless broadband base station that creates a private network for the emergency services if the national telecommunications infrastructure fails during a major incident.

The Tactical Connect evaluation system is the world’s first portable 3G base station to have up to a 40km range, more than 40,000 times the area covered by other similar devices.

This extends the communications range during a major incident, creating a stronger chain of command between the central control and other bases such as hospitals and emergency shelters, as well as between air and ground-based teams.

Tactical Connect is rapidly deployable. Once the base station is switched on, mobile phones with the private network’s SIM work immediately.

This is an extremely cost effective and lightweight solution as no specialist handset is required, negating the need for training end-users already familiar with a mobile phone.

CLIO is a crisis management system from Badger Software that helps companies to protect the welfare and safety of their employees, ensure business continuity, protect resources and preserve reputation and credibility in the event of a major incident.

Developed in collaboration with the emergency services, CLIO is now used by over 60 police forces and law enforcement organisations throughout the UK and overseas and is finding increasing applications in commercial organisations as it will improve the quality of response and thus minimise the effects of all types of exceptional incidents on companies of all sizes.

Far more flexible and reliable than paper-based systems, when CLIO is integrated into a critical incident procedure, all members of the incident team are provided with real-time access from anywhere via a laptop, BlackBerry or Smartphone and the

As Tactical Connect provides a dedicated network, there are no problems with bandwidth overload, ensuring a reliable and strong communications signal. Photos and video can also be shared quickly, as well as fast internet access, to give incident commanders an up to date ‘eagle eye’ view of the entire situation. www.roke.co.uk

Emergency Services Times August 2011

clear and simple-to-use system brings calm, order and organisation to the operation. It ensures the team is better organised and more effective by allowing all team members to share detailed and accurate information helping them to prioritise and track actions and make timely and coordinated decisions. www.badger.co.uk

PRODUCT INFORMATION | 67

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Telescopic pole puts improved rescue within reach A new device designed by Reach and Rescue Limited is being used by UK fire and rescue services to ensure a speedier and safer rescue for all involved.

The Reach and Rescue Pole has been designed in conjunction with a leading UK fire and flood rescue division to improve operator safety and capability at water, ice, mud and flood related incidents.

The key function of the Reach and Rescue Pole is that it accurately deploys a flotation or rescue device to a casualty as quickly as possible, thus saving valuable time on the rescue that might otherwise have been wasted. The pole has also been designed with operator safety in mind; a 3m-hazard zone has been implemented to ensure a safe distance between the operator and the edge of the hazard.

Being telescopic, the largest pole folds down to 2.6m. This allows it to be easily stored in a quick release bag on a fire appliance. If the rescue is taking place in water, ice or mud, the flotation buoy is attached to the top section; the rescuers decide which accessory is applicable for the type of incident and attach it to the pole using the snap-on, easy release head section.

The operator points the pole towards the victim

and releases the first clamp on the first section, extends the section and closes the clamps repeating until the desired distance is achieved. Reversing the operation described above retracts the pole.

A quick connect detachable carabiner (Carago) is available to facilitate rescue at heights of suspended victims in harnesses, making the Reach and Rescue Pole kits a versatile multi-purpose piece of rescue equipment.

Key benefit The key benefit of the Reach and Rescue Pole is the speed it takes to fully extend from its compact state all the way up to its full length – 17m for the larger pole. A video on the Reach and Rescue website (www.reachandrescue.com) shows how the pole can be fully extended and accurately deployed in 45 seconds, and fully retracted again within another 29 seconds, totaling one minute and 14 seconds for the entire rescue, less if the distance to the victim is closer than 17m. Also, the Reach and Rescue Pole is the high visibility end section; it means that even in lower visibility conditions, the victim can easily see the pole.

Photo: Outreach Rescue (Wales).

From an operational perspective, the Reach and Rescue Pole is incredibly versatile. There is a large selection of flotation and retrieval attachments that are available in kits or individually. This means that the pole can be tailored to suit the requirements of the rescue situation. It can be operated easily by one or two people in all weather conditions and can be deployed from both the shore side or from a vessel. There is also a failsafe rope to ensure that the pole sections remain intact if damage occurs during a rescue. www.reachandrescue.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

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INTRAMARK LTD

is the leading Emergency Services Supplier in the UK of rank structure in metal, textiles, cap badges, hand embroidered insignia, caps, buttons and clothing such as polo shirts, Tee Shirts, Sweat Shirts and Fleeces all with machine embroidered logos.

56 Windsor Street, Burbage, Leicestershire LE10 2EF

Tel: 01455 612400 Fax: 01455 612483 Email: enquiries@intramarkuk.com Website: intramarkuk.com Emergency Services Times August 2011

PRODUCT INFORMATION | 69

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Prosthetic

boats where they can be thrown from any awkward positions, both over and under arm. Together with its stainless steel clip the BELL can be mounted ready for immediate use anywhere on a boat

Extrication tool support bag

www.balcan.co.uk

www.peliproducts.co.uk www.durrell.org

Draeger webshop Amputees in Action Ltd, a specialist agency that supplies amputee actors for medical training and film productions, has designed and developed a Cricothyrotomy FX prosthetic. A cricothyrotomy, known as a ‘Crike’, is an incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patient airway during certain life-threatening situations, such as airway obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or massive facial trauma.

The Amputees in Action team have been working for the past one and a half years developing its Crike, which is patent protected and only available through Amputees in Action’s global training courses. A cricothyrotomy is difficult and requires specific tools, preparation and a practised knowledge of anatomy. There are major blood vessels and nerves in the neck and cutting there carries a high risk of harming the patient, so the more practise medics can undertake the better. The new prosthetic has been designed to be life like and bleeds when cut open enabling users to practise the cricothyrotomy procedure as if it were on a real patient.

Designed to make safety easier, the new Draeger Webshop (www.draegershop.co.uk) provides easy access to a wide range of industrial safety solutions. This interactive, secure online web facility forms part of Draeger’s ongoing commitment to understanding and working alongside its customers. Enabling UK customers to source Draeger products 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the site offers fast delivery on thousands of personal protective equipment, occupational safety products, portable and fixed gas detection equipment as well as spares and accessories. Existing Draeger account customers can access the site straight away and registration for new customers is quick and straightforward.

www.amputeesinaction.co.uk

www.draegershop.co.uk

25m throw line

Emergency contact service

to investigate the case, encouraging mental stimulation. The case was subjected to everything a 200kg+ Gorilla can do to it - he shook it, he threw it and he gnawed at it to get the raisins out.

Bulletproof vest

Rescue assist tools such as seatbelt cutters and hook and fork tools are often overlooked or misplaced at the rescue scene. To solve this problem Holmatro has designed a Rescue Support Bag containing the most frequently used assist tools during vehicle extrication. The tool bag has been designed with the rescuer in mind. It is lightweight and made of highquality, fire-retardant material. In addition, it allows easy movement during the rescue operation. The bag is supplied with adjustable waist and thigh straps, which are easy to secure by means of a three-point click buckle.

Holmatro’s Rescue Support Bag can also be attached to a rescuer’s belt by means of Velcro. The bag contains a tyre deflator, seatbelt cutter, window punch, flexible steel rule, marker pen, mini LED torch, multi-cutter and hook and fork tools. www.holmatro.com

Peli cases – now Gorilla Proof!

PPSS has launched one of the lightest and thinnest NIJ Level IIIA+ bulletproof vests. Made from high performance Dyneema® SB51, this new vest also offers additional protection from Tokarev Ball 7.62 x 25mm and Makarov 9 x 18mm. Waterproof and breathable Cordura® 180 and groundbreaking temperature controlling Outlast® space technology, are two further exceptional materials used for this new body armour, which has a weight of only 1.65kg, a thickness of just 6.5mm and protective area of 0.28sqm. Additionally, a specially developed 0.85mm trauma liner provides extremely effective blunt trauma protection. PPSS bulletproof vests are initially available as covert (model: CV1) and executive (model: EV1) versions, in standard sizes ranging from S to XXXL. www.ppss-group.com

Photo: Copyright Andrew Scott-Miller@durrell.

Balcan has produced a new shorter 25m life line in addition to its original 40m-long Balcan Emergency Life Line – BELL. The BELL 25m capsule is bright yellow to distinguish it from the orange original 40m model. Introduced for those who do not consider they require the longer line, the new model is easy to throw to its full length and is, of course, much quicker to repack after use for storage purposes because there is less line to pack! They are considered ideal for all man overboard emergencies from

RapidReach ENS WEB Service from Enera contacts people on your emergency call-lists with just a few mouse clicks. Accessible from any web browser, it is a subscription solution suitable for both small scale and large-scale call-outs using a very simple user interface. Individuals or groups can be called quickly without time consuming manual dialling and searching, dramatically reducing the time it takes to reach emergency response units, customers, neighbours etc. www.rapidreach.com

We always knew Peli Protector Cases were tough equipment cases built to withstand the harshest handling but they have now proved to be …

Gorilla proof! The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey recently used the Peli 1120 case as an enrichment device for their Silverback Gorilla, Ya Kwanza. The 1120 Peli case was customised to hold a small, HD camera to allow the Silverback to film himself. It was covered in oats and honey and also contained some raisins, which challenged Ya Kwanza

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Personal radiation dosimeter

The TracercoT404 personal electronic radiation dosimeter from LabLogic Systems, is a lightweight, weatherproof

70 | PRODUCT INFORMATION and drop-resistant unit, featuring a large display showing radiation graph measurements for those who need precise figures, and a simple diagram of a human figure that fills with colour depending on the dose received – an unambiguous warning for the radiation non-professional. The T404 offers a choice of three measurement modes and four alarm settings, and it can be worn in whatever way suits the user simply by flipping the screen. The unit is also intrinsically safe, so there is no need for a ‘hot work’ permit if it is used in a potentially explosive environment. Completing the T404 package is the intuitive DoseVision™ software interface, a compact charging station/data upload dock which links to the user’s PC through a USB interface and includes a quick-start guide edited by the Plain English campaign. www.lablogic.com

Public order boot

YDS, manufacturer of military and police footwear, has developed a new, advanced public order boot that offers more protection than ever before. The ‘Control’ boot developed together with the help of police forces around the UK provides a high performance barrier against petrol bombing principally by the application of Dual Density Rubber (DDR) sole technology. In ‘Control’, a flame resistant DDR compound sole is injected onto the uppers for outstanding bond strength. The combination of protective features including fire retardant lace and thread, and downward facing seams for petrol run-off, has been proven to successfully endure instances of petrol bombing and is currently being used and on trial by various police forces and prisons around the UK. To protect against missiles and other potentially sharp objects, YDS has integrated a cut resistant material behind the leather uppers in the boot. A Lenzi® flexible nail-proof textile midsole is used to protect from penetration underfoot and as public order officers must stand for long periods of time the softer density rubber midsole

featured in the boot provides a comfortable, cushioned and shock absorbing layer for the foot. www.ydsboots.com

SP website

In recent months SP Services has been busily working on a new website.

The new site was built from the ground up to offer a faster, easier to use experience offering an unparalleled range of products whenever they’re needed. SP Services (UK) Ltd, the UK’s leading supplier of medical, first aid, ambulance paramedic and emergency rescue equipment, has been on the web since the nineties, bringing a huge range of products to ambulance professionals. The company’s website was significantly upgraded in 2004, causing a huge upsurge in the site’s popularity. The demands of the modern web user however, with the need for a higher level of security, have led to the creation of the new website, which is already proving extremely popular. The new site features a new clean interface with a more logical category system. The site is updated on a daily basis with new products added regularly as well as older products being revised. The advanced search engine makes finding the items you need a breeze.

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make them ideal for emergency medical services facing chemical or biological threats. These Avon hoods have a five-year shelf life and provide a high level of respiratory, eye and face protection for a minimum of 15 minutes to allow the user to operate effectively within a contaminated area. Made of clear material, the hoods not only protect against all airborne CBRN threats but also protect the face from liquid agent splashes.

The clear material gives a non-threatening appearance, aids with recognition and also allows for superior visual communication. Twin low-profile filters on a unique hinge system feature the latest filtration media, which reduces breathing resistance and a front reflector makes it easier to identify colleagues in low light environments. The hoods require minimal training and can be deployed effectively in under 30 seconds, aided by the self-adjusting harness. Each hood comes vacuum-sealed in a foil bag and is protected by a durable reinforced pouch small enough to store in a briefcase, glove compartment or drawer. www.avon-protection.com

Universal PPE cleaner / sanitizer

www.spservices.co.uk.

Compact CBRN escape hood

Avon Protection has recently launched a range of CBRN escape hoods.

These, Avon claims, are the smallest CBRN air purifying escape respirators available and their relatively low cost

Firepower from Fenland Laundries Ltd has launched its exclusive Universal PPE cleaner / sanitizer for use on gloves, boots, helmets, PPE with hivisibility tape, and more. This unique product has created lots of interest following its launch at the recent Emergency Scotland event and is taking the industry by storm. After extensive trials across the UK the product has also been launched into Europe. Firepower offers the UK fire and PPE markets a unique one-stop shop facility for procurement of PPE and station wear. Registered to ISO 9000, Fenland’s widely acclaimed

Emergency Services Times August 2011

specialist laundry service then provides full aftercare, inspection and maintenance services, to ensure PPE is compliant and fit for purpose. Already supplying services to over 30 UK airports, many brigades and corporate fire fighting services, Fenland has recently also been awarded a sevenyear contract for county FRS aftercare and maintenance provision. www.fire-power.co.uk

Whiteboard on a roll Taktifol was initially developed as a tool for sports coaches, and is now used by clubs at all levels (including Premier League and international squads), but due to keen interest from fire brigades in Germany an emergency services version has been developed that is now available in the UK and Ireland. The product is brilliantly simple – a 60 x 80cm whiteboard sheet with a static charge that allows you to instantly hang it on (almost) any handy surface – vehicle panels, windows, doors, walls etc – without the need for pins, tape or anything else, therefore making a rapid presentation possible virtually anywhere without the need for an unwieldy planning board. Each sheet has fields for general operating parameters, such as incident location and starting time, as well as a large area for the graphical representation of the situation. The goal was to create a layout that would suit almost all incidents where a number of emergency services personnel are present.

Used in conjunction with whiteboard markers, each sheet can be wiped with a dry cloth (or a finger for minor adjustments), just like a standard whiteboard, and reused several times.

After use, it can be folded, put in a pocket or bag, and therefore easily transported to another location if necessary. In challenging and unpredictable circumstances, the speed with which the product can be deployed and the ease with which it can be transported, as well as the cost, are obvious advantages over both traditional and electronic alternatives. Taktifol starter sets (1 roll, 1 carry bag, 2 markers, 1 cleaning cloth) are available at £36.99 and Emergency Services Times readers can benefit from an introductory 10% discount by quoting EST when placing an order. Taktifol is available direct from Playnasium, the UK & Ireland distributor of the product – Tel: 01525 211380 or e-mail: info@playnasium.com. www.playnasium.com

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VEHICLE MOUNTED BOILING WATER SYSTEM

MAKE IT EASY WITH

HOT PACK™ Self-Heating Nutritious Meals

www.emergencyuk.com Cold, wet and dehydration can reduce performance and impair safety. By fitting a ‘TeaMate’ water boiler, crews can make themselves a cup of tea, coffee or other hot beverage to keep warm and hydrated, therefore maximising concentration and keeping fatigue to a minimum.

Register your interest today by phoning David Brown or Carol Fox on 01273 453300 or email: davidbrown@mmcpublications.co.uk carolfox@mmcpublications.co.uk

In 12 minutes, you can create a delicious hot meal, with Hot Pack Self Heating Meals, anywhere you need it.

Everything is in the pack to produce a satisfying hot meal without using any other equipment. Even cutlery and a dish are included!

Choose from seven great tasting, ready to eat recipes: Chicken Casserole, Lancashire Hot Pot, Chicken Dopiaza Curry, Sausages and Beans, Spicy Vegetable Rigatoni, Meatballs & Pasta and Vegetable Curry.

Make it easy. Enjoy a HOT PACK™ meal – anywhere!

Contact Canland UK Ltd, Wellington House, Lower Icknield Way, Longwick, Bucks HP27 9RZ Tel/Fax: 01844 344474 E.mail: info@hotpackmeals.co.uk Web site: www.hotpackmeals.co.uk

• Compact commercial grade throughout.

• Self contained fully automatic.

• 24v and 12v models available.

• Makes up to 9 mugs per filling.

WHISPAIRE LTD Email: info@whispaire.co.uk Web: www.whispaire.co.uk T: + 44 (0)1794 523999 F: + 44 (0)1794 519151

KNEE & ELBOW Protection

Comprehensive range to suit every application Ergonomic design G Comfortable and secure fit Reliable protection Tough and hard wearing Manufactured to the highest standards from selected quality materials CE marking throughout NATO Stock No: 22c 8415-99-8873869

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To advertise in Emergency Services Times contact David Brown Tel: 01273 453033 E-mail: davidbrown@mmcpublications.co.uk

www.smallboatsheyland.com • Very Stable Aluminium and Polyethylene Workboats & Punts.

• Aluminium Craft can be made to your specification

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Please contact us now Heyland Marine on Tel: 01628 528830

Get all the latest news by signing up for the FREE EST E-newsletter www.emergencyservicestimes.com Emergency Services Times August 2011

72 | LAST WORDS

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Can gaming technology help emergency services teams to work smarter and act faster?

Be it terrorism, fire, vandalism or floods, as threats to our towns and cities appear to increase, the pressure is on to make planning and response for such emergencies more sophisticated. Combined GI (geospatial information), building information modelling (BIM) and artificial intelligence has the potential to help both emergency planning and emergency response.

At present, 2D Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are already widely used by fire and rescue, police and ambulance crews for in-cab navigation.

Yet, as building footprints rapidly increase with the arrival of many more multiplexes and US-style shopping malls, it has become increasingly difficult for planners and the emergency services to deal with emergencies without detailed, accurate and current information.

“Autodesk is actively looking to partner with emergency services and emergency planning teams.”

Once they get inside a large building, crews could be seriously hampered by not having the right data at their fingertips. At present, this building will appear on a 2D GIS map as simply a large block and, while there is still clearly a role for these navigation systems to get crews to the building, 3D could play a vital role in taking crews into that building, using the latest 3D CAD tools.

Highly accurate information There are multiple ways in which the crew could be directed, which might include the command and control centre using radios or voice technology to guide a fire crew with limited visibility, or guiding an ambulance crew around. The highly accurate information contained within the building information model would be extremely advantageous where visibility is limited because of smoke, or darkness – which could mean the difference between life and death.

Similarly, if someone collapses in a shopping centre and the location is given as being outside a

particular shop, a building information model could give the exact location of the shop and enable crews to take the fastest possible route to the site of the emergency, possibly using a hand-held device for greater access and a faster response time.

Although not something that is widely spoken about, the Ministry of Defence has been using elements of 3D data and gaming technology in a highly sophisticated way for several years. Yet as time progresses and 3D and AI evolve, the technology could play an increasingly important role for the emergency services and planning teams in preparing for – and dealing with – modern threats such as terrorism, riots and extreme weather.

Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence is particularly useful in planning for festivals and other large events.

Today’s 3D digital technology enables the creation of intelligent 3D models based on real geographic data, which is therefore totally accurate and reliable.

These plans still do not, however, take into account the crucial reactions of people in these scenarios. This is where artificial intelligence can be combined with existing real-life statistical data and patterns of behaviour to model crowds and show how human reactions would impact on different eventualities.

Autodesk is in a unique position in that it can

draw upon and bring together GI, BIM and gaming capability. In the company’s recent work with a city authority in piloting planning an annual festival, for instance, Autodesk used 3D modelling and gaming to consider all kinds of behaviours, using the model to create a realistic picture of all kinds of scenarios and programming different characters in the crowd accordingly. These included, ‘what would happen if you removed this barrier’ or ‘if it rains and people flock to take cover under trees, will this lead to overcrowding?’ – in turn helping to plan and prevent potentially catastrophic crushing. The city festival project also involved working with a partner organisation that already had experience in working with the military to create these types of models.

Partnership opportunities At present, there is no single solution that could be used and getting these models and 3D plans in place involves a real mix of design, gaming and GI mapping technology. Moving forward, Autodesk is actively looking to partner with emergency services and emergency planning teams in the same way on pilot projects to create partnerships and develop single, highly intelligent models that will facilitate faster and more efficient working. http://usa.autodesk.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Author: Tracey Stone, Emerging Businesses Sales Manager, Autodesk.

Emergency Services

40 models 5 brands 1 phone call 01908 548043

FIVE BRANDS UNDER ONE ROOF

At Volkswagen Group we are able to offer vehicles which produce as little as 89g/km of CO2.

At the same time our diverse range spread over five brands means we can also offer vehicles producing up to 560PS with 0 to 62mph acceleration achieved in just 3.6 seconds.

With body styles ranging from compact 3 door to spacious 5 door estates, SUVs, MPVs and Commercial Vehicle based passenger vehicles we are confident that we have a solution available to suit your needs.

The versatility of our products doesn’t end there – we offer a number of 4x4 drivetrains across our brands from intermediate performance vehicles to high performance off road vehicles, we even offer Commercial Vehicles with four wheel drive.

Further more, our ‘one stop shop’ bluelight conversions are carried out by one of our two fully approved convertors. Our approved convertors have been carefully selected for their experience and for being able to provide our bluelight solutions with the utmost quality that you would expect form a Volkswagen Group vehicle.

It is for this reason that our approved conversions adopt the base vehicle warranty period providing you with extra piece of mind.

VOLKSWAGEN Group United Kingdom Limited Yeomans Drive, Blakelands, Milton Keynes, MK14 5AN

Tel: 01908 548043 www.audi.co.uk www.seat.co.uk www.skoda.co.uk www.volkswagen.co.uk www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP EMERGENCY SERVICES | VW1

Welcome to the Volkswagen Group Emergency Service supplement At Volkswagen Group we have had the privilege of supplying vehicles to the emergency services over a number of years. As the business has evolved so has our approach to providing an aligned and relevant operation to supply and support the emergency service authorities.

With the Volkswagen Group inclusion on the NPIA Framework from October 2010, and in response to the ever-growing need to be able to provide a consistent and reliable service, we have centralised emergency service operations across our five brands. We have also appointed a dedicated Technical Manager who has, in turn, developed the foundation for a robust technical and aftersales support structure.

Being able to centralise our approach to the emergency services has allowed us to provide absolute commonality in the provision of training, diagnostic equipment supply, warranty and much more. We are also able to supply original equipment parts for all five of our brands from one source, the Volkswagen Group TPS network.

We believe that the diversity of our products from across the five brands offers flexibility in all classes without complexity, as the high levels of technical and component commonality ensures cost effective maintenance and extremely comparative whole life costs.

John Maclean, Business Programs Manager

“Cambridgeshire Constabulary has purchased Skodas, principally Octavias and Superbs, because the brand offers quality vehicles, with good wholelife costs, which are very popular with both Police Officer and civilian drivers. The easy ordering process through Skoda, and the ability to obtain the one-stop-shop conversion costs on the original vehicle invoice, makes the administrative aspects of the purchase simple.�

John P Robinson, Fleet Manager Cambridge Police

Emergency Services Times August 2011

VW2 | VOLKSWAGEN GROUP EMERGENCY SERVICES

Meet the team Jane Barker Emergency Services Supply Account Manager

John Maclean Business Programs Manager

Ann Bellamy Emergency Services Supply Coordinator

john.maclean@vwg.co.uk

Primarily John was responsible for overseeing the migration of activities from each of our Brands into a centralised Group Emergency Service Team. John now looks after the team at a high level ensuring an aligned service is offered and maintained.

Nick Axtell Emergency Services Technical Manager

Tel: 01908 601282

Tel: 01908 548043

jane.barker@vwg.co.uk

Jane manages the centralised supply activities for the emergency services, this includes orchestration of mini-tender activities, process improvement and demonstrator management.

Cornelia Breeden Emergency Services Supply Coordinator

Tel: 01908 601144

ann.belamy@vwg.co.uk

Ann handles quote and order management for the Audi and SEAT Brands Julie Mascall Emergency Services Supply Coordinator

nick.axtell@vwg.co.uk

Nick was brought into the Emergency Services team to develop, implement and support a robust Aftersales support platform. Nick is responsible for ensuring authorities have clarity regarding the support that we, as a Group, are able to offer.

Tel: 01908 601650 Tel: 01908 548271

cornelia.breedon@vwg.co.uk

Cornelia handles quote and order management for the Skoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Brands

julie.maskall@vwg.co.uk

Julie handles quote and order management for Volkswagen Brand. Additionlly Julie looks after our reporting.

Kevin Holdsworth Emergency Services support bluelight@vwg.co.uk

John Maclean

Mark Richardson Emergency Services Support bluelight@vwg.co.uk

Jane Barker

Nick Axtell

Kevin Holdsworth

Mark Richardson

Kevin and Mark look after day-to-day issues concerning the emergency services. This can be providing basic technical information to helping manage vehicle off the road cases with our retailers.

Cornelia Breeden

Ann Bellamy

Julie Mascall

Emergency Services Times August 2011

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP EMERGENCY SERVICES | VW3

NPIA Framework Vehicles Our range includes superb vehicles from five brands High Performance Intermediate • Audi A4 SE quattro Saloon Performance 3.0TDI 240ps • SEAT Exeo SE Estate 2.0TDI 143ps • Audi A4 SE quattro Avant 3.0TDI 240ps • Audi A6 SE quattro Saloon 3.0TDI 245ps

• Skoda Octavia VRS Saloon 2.0TDI 170ps • Skoda Superb SE Estate 2.0TDI 170ps • Volkswagen Golf Match 2.0TDI 140ps

• Audi A6 SE quattro Avant 3.0TDI 240ps

4x4 • Audi Q7 quattro 3.0TDI 245PS • Skoda Octavia 4x4 Estate 2.0TDI 140ps • Skoda Octavia Scout 2.0TDI 140ps • Volkswagen Tiguan S 2.0TDI 140ps • Volkswagen Tiguan Escape 2.0TDI 140ps • Volkswagen Touareg SE 3.0TDI 240PS • Volkswagen Touareg Escape 3.0TDI 240PS

Commercial Vehicles • Volkswagen Caddy C20 1.6TDI 75ps

With the diversity of framework vehicles we offer, you’ll be sure to find something

• Volkswagen Transporter T30 SWB 2.0TDI 102ps

that meets your needs. You can

• Volkswagen Transporter T32 LWB 2.0TDI 140ps

order any of the vehicles from

• Volkswagen Crafter CR50 LWB HR 2.0TDI 163ps

our framework categories as marked vehicles

Emergency Services Times August 2011

VW4 | VOLKSWAGEN GROUP EMERGENCY SERVICES

Technical and Aftersales Since the formation of the centralised Volkswagen Group Emergency Services team our dedicated Technical Manager, Nick Axtell, has been able to build and maintain an aligned approach to technical and aftersales support across each of our five brands. We are pleased to be able to offer a number of solutions to ensure you get the support you need to maintain your fleet utilisation. The following steps through just some of the options now being enjoyed by the emergency services.

Best Practice Guide Take advantage of our Guide to Best Practice to ensure a consistent working relationship with our Authorised Repairer network.

Extended Warranty We can now offer a number of manufacturers warranty extensions for purchase with your new Volkswagen Group vehicle. These range from 39 months / unlimited mileage to 60 months / unlimited mileage. Please contact a member of our dedicated emergency services supply team for further details.

Workshop Support Options We now have a set of enhanced workshop support options tailored for the emergency services.

Whether you are interested in purchase of a Volkswagen Group diagnostic tester, dealer level technical support or even carrying out in house warranty repairs we have a packaged option available.

Technical Literature Access to technical literature for our five brands is made available via our dedicated website ERWIN (erwin.volkswagen.de) on a pay per view basis.

ERWIN allows access to workshop manuals, wiring diagrams, service information and much more.

Front line Support From time to time we appreciated that you may need to contact us for a little extra help and support. With this in mind we are pleased to be able to offer dedicated email address specifically for

the emergency services.

The purpose of this support structure is to be able to quickly and efficiently provide you with information you may require such as vehicle specifications, basic technical information or even details about where your nearest Volkswagen Group Authorised Repairer is located.

Additionally if you need a hand with a vehicle that may be in one of our Authorised Repairers the team would be happy to help manage the case with you.

Publications We are now circulating the Volkswagen Group Emergency Services Newsletter and Update Bulletins. These aim to give you up to date information regarding our vehicles and support.

Roadside Assistance Should you require breakdown assistance at the roadside all of our new vehicles are covered for three years. In the unlikely event that you would need to call on these services you can choose to have recovery back to your own workshop or one of our Authorised Repairers.

Training Not only are we able to offer you training from over 100 existing courses we can also tailor bespoke courses to your exact needs covering the exact vehicles and technologies you want to know about.

We’ll even come to you to deliver the training.

If you wish to find our more about any area of technical and aftersales support please do not hesitate to contact Nick Axtell on Tel: 01908 601282.

Emergency Services Times August 2011

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP EMERGENCY SERVICES | VW5

Škoda helps East Midlands Ambulance Service deliver fast response The East Midlands Ambulance Service has purchased 62 Škoda Octavia Scout vehicles for its fast response fleet, after staff praised the model’s excellent build quality, design, handling and load capacity.

Fast response cars are specialist vehicles used by the ambulance service to transport life-saving equipment following a 999 call. The vehicles used therefore need to be safe and reliable in all weather conditions, with adequate load capacity to enable paramedics to quickly access any apparatus needed in an emergency.

REMEMBER You can also order unmarked vehicles from our entire range. Contact Jane for more information on 01908 548043 The East Midlands Ambulance Service initially invested in 20 Octavia Scout 4x4 vehicles in January 2010. The team tested several vehicles from different manufacturers, but chose to make the investment in the Scout model following overwhelmingly positive feedback from staff.

Team members testing the Octavia Scout named it as the best fast response vehicle they had ever used, with one paramedic so impressed he later bought one for himself to use as a family car.

The Octavia Scout boasts a large boot and interior space, making it ideal for fast response conversion. The aluminium scuff plates at the front and rear, plastic body cladding and jacked up suspension allow staff to easily access rural areas or cross rough terrain in an emergency, as well as being able to tackle icy and wet conditions throughout the winter months.

Steve Farnsworth, General Fleet Manager for East Midlands Ambulance Service, said, “After our initial investment in the Octavia Scout model, we received some of the best staff feedback we’ve ever had. It’s so important for our paramedics to have confidence in the vehicles they use – enabling them to focus on the task at hand and respond quickly and safely to emergencies across the region. “Škoda’s cars are designed and engineered to an extremely high standard and our experience with

the cars so far has been outstanding. As a result, we’ve chosen to order a further 62 Octavia Scouts – 30 of which are due to arrive next month.”

Rob English, Fleet Sales Manager at Škoda, said, “It’s great to hear such positive feedback from the East Midlands Ambulance Service – our cars are ideal for use within the emergency services as they’re solid, safe and extremely reliable.

“In addition to excellent specifications, the whole life costs of our vehicles compared to other manufacturers are also very impressive. The low CO2 emissions make tax payments low, economic engines reduce fuel bills and excellent reliability means repairs and unplanned maintenance is rare.

The benefits are clear to see and we’re delighted that the ambulance service has chosen to invest in Škoda.”

The East Midlands Ambulance Service provides emergency care and patient transport services for six counties, employing more than 3200 staff and responding to over 670,000 emergency calls every year.

Emergency Services Times August 2011

VW6 | VOLKSWAGEN GROUP EMERGENCY SERVICES

Quality and innovation EVO is proud to be associated with and approved by VWG for carrying out specialist vehicle conversions to the VW family of vehicles. Right across the board from general purpose vehicle to traffic car, from armed response unit to specialist 4x4, from dog unit to cell van and more, VWG has the vehicles to provide the solutions fleet managers and most importantly operational drivers need.

Engineering Vehicle Operations (EVO) is a specialist vehicle converter with an experienced and talented workforce. The company has an enviable reputation for quality, timeliness, value for money and innovation that is second to none in the conversion industry. Word of mouth, repeat business and customer recommendation is how EVO gets its business and reliability, longevity and outstanding performance is how the company retains it.

The staff has extensive experience working with a number of manufacturer-backed SVOs. The company’s conversion portfolio includes general purpose vehicles (panda cars), traffic cars, dog units, cell vans, surveillance vehicles, CCTV and ANPR vans, armed response vehicles, NHS fast responders, PTS vehicles, fire officers’ vehicles and a variety of generic and bespoke general van racking and storage solutions.

Since the company was established in 2005, EVO has built a reputation for providing top-quality converted vehicles to the UK police forces,

hovernment agencies, the NHS, fire and rescue services and more.

EVO also prides itself on its communication, fully engaging with all the stakeholders in its projects from day one, ensuring it builds what customers want and not what EVO thinks customers want.

When those inevitable little hiccups occur, EVO will contact you immediately to inform you and to re-advise completion dates should there be a need to do so. What the company will not do is hide behind the telephone and over-promise but then under-deliver.

EVO also has mobile engineers that can visit you or any other location of your choice to service and maintain your specialist vehicle even after it’s been handed over to you.

EVO’s undoubted quality means it is more than happy to replicate VWG’s OEM vehicle warranty model by model. Couple that with a true manufacturer backed one-stop-shop invoice transaction and the difficult decision would be why you DON’T choose EVO for your conversion?

At the end of your working vehicle’s life it will need de-commissioning prior to disposal. EVO can offer a full cradle to grave service, which includes vehicle collection, secure storage, livery removal, quality and functionality checking of all electrical equipment, rendering unusable and safe disposal of all obsolete items in addition to safe storage of any items that may be ‘second-lifed’.

Please take a look at the EVO website or contact martin@evoltd.com for more information or to arrange a visit to see first hand just what the company means by quality and innovation. Call 0845 2602 999. www.evoltd.com

Emergency Services Times August 2011

VW8 | VOLKSWAGEN GROUP EMERGENCY SERVICES

WHAT IS TPS? A Trade Parts Specialist (TPS) is a local one-stop trade shop for Volkswagen Group Genuine Parts™ – offering you unprecedented choice and service, as well as consistently competitive prices.

The TPS Network is an industry first; designed from the ground up to meet the needs of today’s trade customer. No other motor manufacturer in the world has made such a massive commitment to the trade. Because each TPS Centre is an agent of Volkswagen Group UK, operational standards and parts prices are set nationally. Also, each Centre’s extensive parts stockholding is maintained by the Group and dedicated 100 percent to the needs of local trade customers.

One call to your local TPS Centre will deliver all your Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Volkswagen passenger car and Commercial Vehicle parts needs to your door.

So you get the right part, at the right price, at the right time – with minimum effort on your part.

Being able to order parts from one location has a number of benefits including: • Time saved when ordering parts • Less invoices to process • Greater discount potential having your spend centralised • Up to three deliveries a day as well as an On Demand ‘You get it when you want it’ delivery service* for virtually any part for Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Volkswagen passenger car and Commercial Vehicles.

TPS can also provide you with some basic reporting about your parts spend with us so you can ensure you are getting the best discounts and even look at having imprest stock based on your most popular parts.

To locate your local TPS Centre please log on to www.thetradepartsspecialists.co.uk and enter your postcode.

*Available to pre-selected customer only, based within a 20 minute drive time of your local TPS Centre. For more information contact your local TPS Centre.

Emergency Services Times August 2011

Emergency Services

“Since the formation of their centralised team, Volkswagen Group’s level of service is second to none. Knowing that my calls will be answered quickly and that I can discuss any one of their five brands in one call gives a new level of confidence.”

Andy Linsell, Roads Policing Unit, States of Jersey Police

Emergency Services Times August 2011

WE’RE NOT AWARD WINNING Volkswagen Polo 2010 World Car of the Year SEAT Alhambra What Car? 2011 MPV of the year Škoda UK What Car? 2011 Best Manufacturer Volkswagen Golf What Car? 2011 Best Small Family Car of the Year Volkswagen Caddy Van Fleet World Awards – 2011 Best Small Van Škoda UK Which? Overall Most Satisfying Brand Audi A6 Auto Express – Best Executive Car Volkswagen Crafter Van Fleet World Awards – 2011 Best Large van Audi A1 Auto Express – Best Premium Supermini SEAT Alhambra Carbuyer.co.uk – Best large MPV

WE’RE MULTI AWARD WINNING