Security
Preparing for emergency incidents
To protect the UK from terrorism we must prepare for all of the possible ways that terrorists may strike, including chemical or biological attacks.
A cross-government initiative, called the Chemical, Biological, Radiological or Nuclear (CBRN) Resilience Programme, aims to ensure that fewer lives will be risked or lost in the event of a terrorist or accidental CBRN incident.
The resilience programme does this by making sure that:
- the response to a CBRN incident would be quick and effective - resulting in lives being saved and any impact on property or the environment minimised
- the emergency services have the best and most appropriate equipment and training to respond to a CBRN incident
Facts and figures
Under the CBRN resilience programme we have provided:
- 360 mobile decontamination units for use around the country by Ambulance and Accident & Emergency Departments
- 7,250 personal protection suits for key health workers, with an extra 2,500 additional personal protective suits stockpiled
- stockpiles of emergency medical equipment, strategically stored around the country and available at 24 hours notice
- 7,000 Police Officers with special training to deal with CBRN incidents
- 4,400 new high performance gas-tight suits for fire fighters
CBRN planning and research
Plans to deal with chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents include procedures covering the following measures:
- identifying the source of the threat
- giving advice to victims caught in the area and to others worried about contamination
- arranging urgent medical attention for casualties
- decontaminating victims and the area itself
Planning is underpinned by a CBRN science and technology progamme. Research focuses on developing the capabilities to ensure we can respond resiliently to a CBRN incident, and also provides evidence to help us make policy and planning decisions.
CBRN training
We provide CBRN response training to emergency service personnel, government staff and other public service staff, through several expert organisations, as outlined below.
The Police National CBRN Centre
We aim to have 5% of police officers in England and Wales trained to be able to respond to a CBRN incident. The Centre provides training, equipment and CBRN support to the police service nationally. By the first of February 2005 nearly seven thousand UK police officers had received training.
Emergency Planning College
The Emergency Planning College (new window) was set up to provide training in crisis management and emergency planning to local and central government, the emergency services, the private sector and volunteer networks.
The Fire Service College
The Fire Service College (new window) has facilities to train firefighters in all areas of responding to an emergency including dealing with a CBRN incident. They have been provided with an additional £5million that covers the training of trainers and responders on structural collapse technician courses in the USA, the purchase of technical search and rescue and heavy rescue equipment, and the provision of training rigs that provide the skills needed to respond to both terrorist and civil emergencies.
