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June 5, 2006
UK: Report Slams Responses To 7/7 Islamist Attack
Today, the Guardian, the Telegraph and the Times and ITV.com describe the results of a report released today, which criticises the responses of the emergency services to the attacks upon London Transport, which happened on July 7 last year, killing 52 innocent travellers.
The report by the London Assembly states that the emergency services lacked proper communication. Radios were unable to work underground in the tube tunnels where three carriages had been hit by suicide bombers.
One of the report's co-authors, Peter Hulme-Cross, said: "Page after page of this report gives examples of poor planning and lack of foresight on the part of the emergency services. What comes across time and again from survivors' testimony is the only thing that saved 7/7 from being far worse was individual Londoners acting on their own initiative."
Richard Barnes, who chaired the July 7 Review Committee, said: "There is no doubt that lives were saved by individual acts of incredible bravery and courage by members of the emergency services, other passengers and members of the public."
"London's emergency plans have been tested, practised and refined, but on July 7 it was clear that they ignored the needs of many individuals caught up in the attacks. They focused on incidents but not individuals, and processes rather than people. It is vital that these plans are reviewed and updated to address this major issue."
Barnes paid tribute to the "unsung heroes" from the public, such as a driver who stayed with his train until the last passenger was evacuated, and also the manager of a Marks and Spencer store, who turned his retail facility into a treatment centre for victims.
He said of these: "It was London at its humane best. There is no doubt that lives were saved by individual acts of incredible bravery and courage by members of the emergency services, other passengers and members of the public"
The Committee spent six months investigating before publishing its results today. Even though at the Kings Cross fire 18 years ago, when it was discovered that emergency services radios were inoperable underground, the report stated that no measures had been taken to rectify this.
"The plans, systems and processes intended to provide a framework for the response to major incidents in London must be revised and improved. Communications within and between the emergency services did not stand up on July 7," the report states, adding that it was "unacceptable that the emergency services, with the exception of the British transport police, are still not able to communicate by radio when they are underground."
The report also makes mention of the way that the services appeared to rely upon the experience of 9/11 for formulating their responses. It states: "In New York on 11 September 2001, many people died and few survived. The situation on 7 July was the opposite: a relatively small proportion of victims lost their lives, but there were hundreds of survivors. Because emergency plans following 9/11 are based very much on the lessons learnt from that specific incident, they tend not to consider the needs of survivors."
The report made 54 recommendations, with the key findings including the following:
This should be rectified by the planned implementation of the CONNECT train-to-train radio system, due to be ready by the end of next year.
The unit should have "blue-light" status, allowing it to use bus lanes and to be exempt from Livingstone's tax. They should have access to the underground radio network.
Communications need improving and supply of emergency equipment need to be revised, with recommendation for rescue and medical equipment to be stored at Underground and train stations.
All hospitals should be informed of a crisis/emergency situation rather than those classed as catering for "acute" cases.
Procedure for collecting information from all survivors and witnesses should be established in the event of a terror attack.
Such messages should be updated on the hour with times given, even if the information is the same from hour to hour.
Scotland Yard's advice messages should say whether or not mobile phone use should be restricted.
Tony Blair's official spokesman said the government would act upon the committee's recommendations, but insisted the Emergency Services deserved praise for their actions. He stated: "We will study the report in detail. Nothing should take away from the overall impression that people have of how the emergency services worked on that day, both at an individual level and a systemic level."
"They put into operation the plans that had been carefully worked out for such an eventuality."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at June 5, 2006 4:41 PM
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