Emergency extranet goes live

Emergency services in the Lothian and Borders region have taken on a major incident communication system to co-ordinate their responses to serious events.

Known as Lothian and Borders Alert, the secure extranet system is intended to improve the region’s response to major incidents such as flooding, transport accidents and terrorism.

The system is based on CountywideAlert, developed by Surrey County Council with the backing of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

This is the first time the system has been used outside Surrey, says Lothian and Borders assistant emergency planning officer Jim Gill.

‘Previously in an emergency, police and other services could talk well to themselves but not to each other,’ he said.

‘Lothian and Borders Alert gives us a secure site where we can share information to manage any emergency incident at the strategic level.’

The system also includes a non-secure web site to give emergency advice to the public.

The primary use for the site is to assign tasks to services, and for partner agencies to send messages to one another, says Gill.

‘In the event of something big happening, the police would use the site to declare a major incident in progress, and other agencies would then log into Lothian and Borders Alert,’ he said.

‘They will continue to use their own command and control systems, but will share as much information as they can with the other services via this system.’

The system will be used to apportion the tasks to be carried out by each agency and service.

For instance, in a town centre gas explosion, the fire service could input a request to have barriers placed around the area, which would need to be done by the council, says Gill.

A robust and efficient communication system is a must for dealing with emergency situations, says Ovum analyst Graham Titterington.

‘Having one common medium that can reach all the different services allows emergency personnel, who have very little time, to send one message and know it will get through and be actioned,’ he said.

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Further reading:

• Scheduling for Welsh Ambulance
• Police scheme widens scope
• Gloucestershire police install IP network