National review of community risk methodology across UK Fire and Rescue Service

Implicit assumptions

In the responses some FRSs noted that they do not make assumptions about human behaviour in fire or human behaviour in emergencies. Academic knowledge has evidenced behaviours which challenge commonly held beliefs about how people behave in these situations (for example people and crowds do not panic in emergency situations). This response indicates that there may be a need for access to the academic evidence base through knowledge exchange and a training requirement in understanding implicit assumptions that FRS personnel are making who are involved in the community RMP process.

Robust evidence

Using robust evidence will also serve to inform other activities as well as planning for the human reaction in an emergency captured mainly through response plans. For example, it can be used to inform topics covered by firefighter training such as search and rescue techniques.