Co-Operation with the Police, Fire Brigade and Rescue Organizations

Extract

If the best intervention is to be achieved at any incident, be it an aircraft disaster or not, there must be the utmost co-operation between all the intervention services attending or connected with the disaster. Such co-operation cannot be guaranteed to happen overnight or on the day of the disaster, but must be the result of lengthy pre-planning. It is necessary for all involved organizations to decide their area of responsibility on the occasion of a disaster, and contingency plans must clearly set out such responsibilities in order to avoid confusion and duplication of effort on the day of the event. Chaos will surely result if the various responsible officers of each organization do not personally meet during the planning stages, if only so as to be able to readily identify those in charge of each service at an incident. More importantly, each leader can learn of the mannerisms, shortcomings and attributes of his colleagues in other services and thus, when the incident occurs, be in a position to readily appreciate what is likely to be the approach of his fellow officers and services.