Responding to Emergency Service Incidents free essay sample

The 999 system was first introduced in London on 30th June 1937 on the occurrence of a fire on the 10th November 1935 in a house on Wimpole Street in which five women were killed. The 999 number is the official emergency contact number for the key services which the public can gain contact with 24 hours a day for urgent assistance. By using this number the caller could call the Police, Fire Rescue, Ambulance, Coast guard, Mountain Rescue and Cave rescue. The process of which the caller will go through when using the 999 system. File:Flowchart for a 999 emergency call. svg http://en. The first response service on the scene will move all pedestrians away from the scene for their own safety and to prevent the scene gaining further contamination. To many cooks spoil the broth The responders to the incident are at risk if there are too many pedestrians obstructing access to the casualties. Also the first crew on the scene must access what has occurred and inform the other services as they arrive at the scene of the incident, also brief them on how the situation is going to be resolved quickly but safely. The services must watch out for their own welfare, so they dont cause injury for themselves, or even cause further injury to casualties or other service personnel. All emergency response drivers who are advanced driver qualified will be tested responding to a situation where there is a large group of people obstructing the access to the scene, these drivers must be aware of situation at the scene before they arrive. For example, the driver can be briefed about the situation via the radio system that will be in their emergency response vehicle. In the first car there is a woman who is in critical condition, in the second car there is a man and a young boy who are both fatal, the HGV driver has managed to get from his vehicle with minor cuts and scrapes. Firstly the ambulance service must stabilise the critical women in the first small car, if the paramedics cant gain access to the car by opening the door, the fire service will have to work quickly but safely to remove the roof of the vehicle so the medics can safely remove the casualty for further treatment. The HGV driver would now be treated for his injuries now the woman has been safely removed from her car, after the HGV driver has been treated, the Fire Service and Police must remove the bodies from the other small car. Now all casualties and fatalities have been removed and are in process of being treated, the police and investigation team will need to photograph the scene for later reference and highlight specific markings on the road surface that could indicate towards any form of prevention by the drivers of the collision. Also when photographing the scene wide angle shots must be taken of where the cars were, to refer back to if the scene was needed to be reconstructed at a later date. After the investigation team have gathered all the evidence, the Police will require assistance from recovery vehicles to remove the damaged cars and HGV lorry from the scene for further investigation in a controlled environment and less chance of contaminating any evidence that could be in any of the three vehicles. Relating to the emergency services, the fire service has had an emergency call, the responding team to an incident must prepare to do so, however in the equipment room Oxygen tanks have been left out and one of the members has fallen and has badly hurt themselves. However, the HSE has been in to the fire station and has addressed that problem of equipment being left out causing a hazard for personnel. PPE at work Act 1992 The Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 is a set of rules and regulations that were set under the Health and Safety at work Act 1974. This Act orders employers to supply their personnel with the required protective equipment for the given situation. For example, the crime scene investigation team, their job is to gather every little piece of evidence to convict a suspect. To do this the team will need the necessary protective equipment to prevent the crime scene getting further contamination. Such as, gloves, protective suit, shoe covers or even an oxygen supply. If the search team didnt have the suitable equipment, many criminals would get away with committing crime due to insufficient evidence to convict the criminal. COSHH Act 2002 The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 is in place as a statutory instrument which states requirements of an employer to protect their personnel and other people of hazardous materials and substances that are used or a person may come across when responding to an emergency incident. Relating to the emergency services, if there was a hazardous substance such as fuel is around the area of where the casualty is, the responding team need to remove that person as quickly as possible but safely to not cause any further harm to the casualty. If this problem occurred and the hazard was not identified this will endanger the casualtys lives and those of whom are responding to this incident. RIDDOR Act 1995 The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995, is in place to clarify the lawful obligation of the employer and employees to report deaths, injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences that take place at the work place or in connection with responding to an emergency incident. For example, almost every week we have a report of another soldier fatality out in current operations, or how another dangerousexplosion has destroyed a patrol vehicle. But relating to the three key services if there is major RTC incident on the M1, the injuries and dangers at the scene caused must be reported for later investigations. Also the media will inform the UK of the event that occurred and inform them of the road closures. If the dangers were not reported then the situation could become much worse as the ro ad users will not be aware of the current incident and may become involved into the RTC and cause more injuries even fatalities.