To improve emergency services’ response to terrorist incidents

UK Police attending an incident - Over-reliance on Police, and centralised communication and decision making are lessons to learn in wake of Manchester Arena bombing - Last updated on Wednesday 26 May 2021 - The Manchester Arena terrorist bomb attack in 2017 exposed flaws in the response of emergency services that could be addressed with a new three-phase approach, research by the University of Bath School of Management shows. Current government guidelines outline a two-phase structure of 'response and recovery', which researchers discovered hampered effective communication between agencies, created over-reliance on centralised Police decision-making, and inhibited other services' ability to take initiative earlier in an emergency. "To better prepare responders for emergencies we recommend a three-phase structure of 'response/resolve/recovery' is introduced in place of the current guidelines that outline a two-phase structure of response and recovery. Introducing the 'resolve' phase would allow and encourage other emergency services to act earlier and more effectively," said Dr Olivia Brown of the University of Bath. Brown and her co-researchers from Lancaster University studied communication and coordination between emergency services during the response to a simulated terrorist incident. They worked with 30 commanders from 11 agencies, including the Police, Fire and Rescue, Ambulance, Military and local and central government. They studied three phases: 1 - when the incident was ongoing; 2 - 48 hours after the incident; and 3 - three weeks after the incident.