Every citizen needs to be prepared for a terrorist attack. This was a stark message conveyed by a senior official at the Major Incidents and Emergency Response Conference.
Key themes discussed and debated included: Central Government perspectives on Resilience & Emergencies; Emergency assistance to victims of major incidents; Local Authorities’ preparedness for emergencies; and challenges faced by the police in countering terrorism.
Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session chaired by Baroness Harris of Richmond, DL.
One speaker cited the Mumbai terror attack of 2008 and said that an attack on a prison or an intensive care unit of a hospital was his worst nightmare and that we should not be complacent.
Among the 14 speakers on day 1 were Luana Avagliano, Head of Resilience, Cabinet Office, Andrew Lynch, editor of Fire Magazine and Commander Dean Hayden, senior national coordinator, counter terrorism policing at the Metropolitan Service.
Organised by Westminster Insight, around 180 delegates had signed up for this knowledge exchange event, held at the Park Plaza Hotel in Victoria, London, last Tuesday.
Day two featured a half-day workshop focused on last year’s Grenfell disaster, looking in detail at the response to the tragic events, and on what lessons should be learnt.
