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Memorandum from
Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Fire and
Rescue Authority (FIRE 03 )
1.
Executive Summary
1.1 Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service firmly
believes that the FiReControl
Project will deliver enhanced Fire Control
capabilities that will not only be able to deal with normal levels of response
activity but also the increased magnitude, complexity and frequency of demand
associated with terrorism threats and the effects of climate change.
1.2 The increased resilience of the nine networked
Regional Fire Controls will ensure
that the response from the Fire and Rescue Services will be optimised with the
resulting improvement in protection of the population and responding emergency
service staff.
1.3 The threat from terrorism remains and many inquiries
have identified the need to have command and control facilities with the
ability to provide support across the whole of the incident rather than by a
number of disparate control facilities. Regional Control
Centres will enable a co-ordinated response to ensure optimum deployment of
resources in the right place at the right time.
1.4 The increasing changes in climate and extreme
weather conditions are becoming more common and require resources from wide
areas to deliver emergency and rescue services to large numbers of people,
utilising a wide range of resources from many Fire and Rescue Services and
other emergency response organisations.
2.
Introduction to Author
2.1 Peter Dartford is the
Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive of Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
He is the Regional Project Director for the West Midlands
and chairs the Regional FiReControl
Project Board. He represents the Region at National Level on the Local and
Regional Delivery Group and is a member of the Project Assurance Board.
3.
Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service Position
3.1 There are three
fundamental areas that must remain at the forefront of any Inquiry or Review of
FiReControl. They are three areas
that underpin the concept of FiReControl
and they are as valid today as ever before. These three areas are:
· Improved resilience of control room operations
· Coping with the effects of climate change
· The need to deal with acts of terrorism.
3.2 Improved Resilience
3.2.1.
FiReControl will deliver a national
network of nine, resilient, Regional Control
Centres, which will receive calls, and mobilise and co-ordinate resources
across the country, replacing 46 stand-alone centres.
3.2.2.
Secondary mobilising systems will be provided across England to ensure resources can be
mobilised when primary systems fail. This facility will be available to every Control Room Operator to mobilise a resource from
any Fire Station on the country. Currently this cannot be achieved by any
control room outside the particular Fire and Rescue Service whose area the fire
station lies in.
3.2.3.
At times of increased emergency call rates to control centres, the FiReControl network will automatically divert a call to
another RCC should the local RCC be too busy. All such calls will remain in the
network and be dealt with, monitored and recorded seamlessly, with no loss of
data. Current facilities to deal with this rely on call re-routing via the BT
network to a pre-determined fallback control, usually a neighbouring FRS.
Should that FRS control room be busy also, the call reverts back to BT to
locate an available control room, a process that can take several minutes. If
the call is taken by the fallback control, then details of the call are relayed
back to the parent FRS via fax, at which point it receives immediate attention.
3.2.4.
Many existing Fire Control rooms are
not purpose built and are unable to meet modern operational requirements
especially when dealing with large scale incidents or spate conditions.
3.2.5.
Technology across the existing Fire Control
rooms is inconsistent and in some cases ageing, pending the transfer of
operations to RCC's. FiReControl
will deliver modern technology and systems that will be consistent across England
and are essential to maintain public safety. This will enable any Fire Control Operator in any control room to mobilise any
appliance in England,
including mobilising appliances across Service boundaries.
3.3 Coping with the
Effects of Climate Change
3.3.1. The effects of climate change
are now becoming all too common with well documented examples of such events
increasing year on year. Examples of extreme rainfall, devastating communities,
causing loss of life and infrastructure present all emergency and response
services with significant response, logistic and co-ordination problems.
Particularly where such events span FRS borders, response arrangements need to
be co-ordinated between one or more control rooms, operating with different
response, welfare and operational policies. Local control rooms are often
over-run with emergency calls and command and control activities in order to
cope with demands of the incident. There is no facility to formally transfer
demand to another control room other than the existing fallback arrangements. Regional
Control Rooms will share the same
technology and will seamlessly be able to handle calls from anywhere in the
country (see 3.2.3 above).
3.3.2. Two elements of the Fire
Resilience Programme have delivered many of their stated outcomes. The Firelink
Project has already delivered a single digital wide area communications system
that forms an integral part of the FiReControl
system and New Dimension has delivered a wide range of capabilities to deal
with a variety of major incidents. The FiReControl
element, to complete the overall delivery, is required to ensure an enhanced
call handling and mobilisation capability. This includes the provision of
RCC's, fire station mobilising equipment and appliance mobile data terminals.
3.3.3. A review of the 2007 floods;
'Facing the Challenge' 1
by Sir Ken Knight studied the role of Fire Controls
and concluded: 'The review findings
underpin the rationale for the FiReControl
Project and concludes that a number of the difficulties experienced in the
existing disparate fire control arrangements will be overcome through the
proposed RCC network. ......... The findings also seek to add the experience of the
significant events of 2007 to inform the operating protocols that will result
from the introduction of RCC's.
I am
satisfied that the introduction of the RCC's will significantly enhance the
service to the public and the response from the Fire and Rescue Service,
particularly during periods of peak demand'
3.4 Dealing with Acts of
Terrorism
3.4.1.
Ever since the events of 11th September 2001 in New York, there has been a growing
understanding of the need to manage the co-ordination of large scale incidents
where multiple agencies have a role to perform. This has been highlighted in
the McKenzie 2 report
into the events of 9/11 which states the need for a 'well-defined, flexible, and complete command and control structure for
major incidents, with clear and consistent responsibilities and roles. In
addition, the FDNY should improve the support it provides incident commanders
so that crucial functions can be effectively performed, including command and
control, planning, logistics and inter-agency coordination'.
The Mott MacDonald 3
report expands this further with: 'The
scale and complexity of September 11th meant that vast resources
were deployed throughout the city with little cohesion or co-ordination. Many
resources failed to report to established 'staging areas' from which they would
have been deployed in a systematic manner to appropriate locations. As a result
FDNY control could not accurately track resources or personnel or deploy the
appropriate information and command strategies. Dispatch operators were
overwhelmed with emergency calls limiting their ability to respond effectively
and to concentrate on the dispatch and control of resources and personnel.
Voluntary support from units not assigned to the incident and from off-duty
personnel complicated control functions. Ineffective and infrequently used
recall procedures further confused the situation and created a disorganised
environment in which the maintenance of effective control was difficult'
With regard to the incident
at the Pentagon in Washington
DC at the same time, Mott
MacDonald records: 'The response to the
Pentagon incident was similarly disturbed by the adverse effects of self-dispatching
resources. This proved to 'complicate the exercise of command, increase the
risks faced by bona-fide responders and exacerbate the challenge of
accountability'. Although Incident Command procedures were implemented early
on, the ad hoc nature in which resources were mobilised and dispatched
undermined the ability of the Incident Commander to maintain control of the
resources on-site and arriving and to manage a strategic response accordingly.'
3.4.2 Sadly, recent history has proven
that the UK is not immune to
acts of terrorism following the London Bombings in July 2005 and the attack at Glasgow Airport in June 2007. The FiReControl system will put into place a Control network that will ensure a fully
co-ordinated response to such events that will greatly improve public
protection and responder safety.
4.
Recommendations
4.1
That the FiReControl Project is
endorsed by the Parliamentary Committee and is given sufficient and appropriate
resources and support to enable it to fully deliver improved capability and
resilience in Fire Control
operations across the country as soon as possible in order to save lives and raise
the standards of public protection and responder safety.
4.2
That the Inquiry gives further support to the outcomes of the FiReControl Project delivering a national scale, fully
resilient system that is able to deal with the exceptional demands that occur
at times of national level emergency situations as a result of severe climate
conditions and terrorist attack, the frequency of which are likely to increase
in the future.
4.3
That the Inquiry recognises that to halt or amend the FiReControl Project would delay even further the
provision of facilities required by Fire and Rescue Services to meet the
challenges of today and the future.
Also, that it recognises taking an alternative approach to the provision
of these vital facilities is likely to cost more than progressing with FiReControl as planned.
5. References
1. Facing the Challenge - The Chief Fire and
Rescue Adviser's review of the operational response by the Fire and Rescue
Service to the widespread flooding in England during 2007: Sir Ken
Knight. CLG March 2008
2. FDNY McKenzie Report following the Attack
on the World Trade Centre, New York,
11th September 2001.
3. The Future of Fire and Rescue Service Control Rooms In England
and Wales
- Update 2003: Mott MacDonald
January 2010
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