Assist the rescue of people at risk during terrorist attacks

People at risk who are unable to evacuate the area of terrorist attacks safely will need to be rescued by operational personnel or other emergency responders. This includes people who have followed ProtectUK advice to ‘Run Hide Tell’ and are hiding from the attackers, and casualties who have sustained injuries that are preventing them from evacuating to a place of safety.

Fire control personnel can assist the rescue of people at risk during terrorist attacks by gathering and sharing information with operational personnel and other responding agencies. Information shared may include:

• Location of all known people at risk
• Age and number of known people at risk
• Condition and mobility of known people at risk
• Location of the incident and the conditions that known people at risk are experiencing, such as a siege situation
• Information about access and egress to affected areas such as buildings
• All known details of callers whose call ended prematurely
• Any video footage from emergency callers

This list is not exhaustive and the reasons why people are unable to evacuate should be considered and shared with relevant operational personnel, as this information may influence the integrated multi-agency response plan to reach people at risk.

Electronic methods of sharing information

Electronic methods of sharing information are likely to help fire control personnel to share incident-related information (such as information about people at risk in terrorist attacks) quickly and accurately with relevant operational personnel and other agencies. Electronic methods of sharing information may reduce the number of telephone conversations needed, releasing fire control personnel to focus on other incident-related tasks or to manage additional emergency calls. Refer to Effective communication systems between agencies for more information.