Module with embedded NRAT advisers onboard convoy
Fire Special Operations staff participating in film making
The NRAT – Supporting the UK’s Fire and Rescue Services
Published: 14 May, 2010
Shortly after completing a film documentary of the EU Floodex 2009 (see Fire and Rescue page 38 issue 76, 2009) for the UK’s lead fire service within the project: Hereford and Worcester FRS; Jon Hall (DCFO Gloucester FRS, UK) approached David Lane (MIFireE) in his role as Chairman of the UK’s National Resilience Board. The task being to document the work of the National Resilience Assurance Team (NRAT) of the United Kingdom to illustrate NRAT work for the wider first responder stakeholder audience through a film, using the unique Floodex film footage, the back story being the EU Floodex proof of concept Major Flood Module response. David Lane reports.
Wherein NRAT and NSAT staff managed and co-ordinated this UK multi-agency, multi-disciplinary resource in line with UK FRS national resilience arrangements –accepting this professional challenge we set about Pre-Production, researching and script writing in collaboration with Team members notably Jon himself and GM Paul Cross of Devon and Somerset FRS, a NRAT National Fire Resilience Coordinator.
Background
When the Government’s New Dimensions Project concluded, the UK’s Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) were asked by the Communities and Local Government Department (CLG) to facilitate the management of National Resilience capabilities transferring from the Centre to a fire service led approach.
Fundamentally, this was asking the Fire and Rescue Service to take up the challenge of managing all National Resilience Assets and capabilities into the future; the belief being that as the deliverers of the service on behalf of Government, “Fire and Rescue” was best placed to manage its maintenance into the future.
CFOA’s National Resilience Board came into being through a transition process and helped to establish capability leads. Within the film we illustrate these functional capabilities for Urban Search and Rescue, High Volume Pumping, Training, Command and Control and Mass Decontamination; within Mass Decontamination includes a Detection, Identification and Monitoring (DIM) unit. The DIM unit carries out a broad range of activities at events where CBRN materials may be involved e.g. from assessing powders, detecting explosives, identifying chemicals and help to mitigate threats.
NRAT Roles
Jon Hall was filmed explaining that processes have been established to ensure the long-term management of some £300m worth of equipment, training across the country, the replacement of kit and a 16 year contract for its management. A partnership agreement that sees National Resilience being provided through FRS’s, participants include CFOA, the Local Government Association and CLG. Stakeholder organisations include: other emergency services, Fire Industry Suppliers, other government departments, Strategic Health Services, Utilities and Local Authorities. So a national team has been created to provide assurance both to the UK’s Government and to individual Fire and Rescue Services that the capabilities are still as planned and available for immediate response.
The ‘National Co-ordination and Advisory Framework’ – NCAF - gives the organisational capacity and structure to facilitate delivery of a coordinated national response to a range of catastrophic incidents. These are fully explained in the document: “Fire and Rescue Service Operational Guidance National Co-ordination and Advisory Framework” of September 2009 published by the Department for Communities and Local Government (Website: www.communities.gov.uk).
NCAF will enable the Government and the fire service, together with the other emergency services and agencies, to be assured of the capability to minimise loss of life and injury and to reduce damage to buildings and utility services, thereby mitigating the detrimental effect to the community, commerce and public and government services.
The NRAT is a function of CFOA National Resilience Ltd, (CFOA’s pragmatic device for delivery) consisting of a team of more than 20 experienced fire and rescue staff drawn from around the country. A central Secretariat (currently located at the Fire Service College, UK) and management under Brian Ward, National Resilience Officer, also ensures the administration and production of technical guidance and training standards.
NRAT members (many of whom participated in the film through interviews and realistic scenario demonstrations) are located throughout each region in the country having comprehensive knowledge of all capabilities and their vital support role has a superb lineage of proof through being at major incidents such as the Buncefield oil terminal fire in Hertfordshire, December 2005, the major floods across England in Yorkshire, Humberside and Gloucestershire in 2007, the North Sea tidal surge threatened East Anglia, November 2007 and the loss of four firefighters in a warehouse blaze in Warwickshire, November 2007.
Aims
‘National Resilience’ aims to provide assurance to Government and individual Fire Authorities as well as the organisational capacity and structure to enable the delivery of a coordinated national response to a range of catastrophic incidents. NRAT therefore assists facilitating the Government and the fire service in conjunction with the other emergency services and agencies to be assured of the capability to minimise loss of life and injury and to reduce damage to buildings and utility services, thereby mitigating the detrimental effect to our communities, commerce and public and government services. Underlining the first duty of government is to protect its people and that the emergency services are at the forefront of this role.
The Role of NRAT is;
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Operational Support as detailed in the NCAF document providing operation deployment advice
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Assurance
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Training to include coordination of exercises
UK’s EU Floodex ‘09 Module prior to deployment
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Central technical and administrative support via the secretariat
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Asset Refresh
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Communication to the FRS and other stakeholders
Speed and certainty of response – coupled with the right level of resources are vital. National Resilience Assets are available 24/7 and located within the FRS’s selected on a risk assessment basis. Locating the equipment on this basis means that, when a national response is required, both conventional and specialist resources can be deployed together quickly and efficiently. NRAT also provide a key operational role in advising at both strategic and tactical levels at Gold, Silver and Bronze level of commands, the CLG emergency room, the FRS National Co-ordination Centre, in addition to managing the strategic holding areas (SHAs).
The team deliver a tiered national response which is capable of operating in a multi agency environment and integrate the resources within the capabilities, e.g. the use of Incident Response Units (IRU’s) in flood areas where HVP’s have been deployed.
Great results
The UK’s FRS National Resilience Capabilities program led by CLG and the role of NRAT in delivering equipment, training, procedures and operational support is pivotal to NRs successful implementation and continued operation. This was very successfully demonstrated within the multi capability response to the European “Flood Ex” held in September 2009. This exercise in which the UK, Estonia, Germany and Poland participated, located in and led by the Netherlands, highlighted that the capabilities facilitated by NRAT are first class, flexible and can be utilised in a wider range of scenarios than anticipated and provides, through the enhanced Command and Control, a robust support system for multi agency operations.
Our film concludes with this ringing endorsement: that the role and functions of the NRAT have a major impact on public safety and are available to ALL on the UK’s front line.
About the author
David Lane – Fire, Water and Marine Safety Consultant and Film Producer, formerly a UK Senior Fire Officer is the Managing Director (CEO) at 'Lane, Jefferies & Associates Ltd' a small specialist fire, water and marine safety consultancy, highly experienced, working within Europe, USA and abroad in all fire, water and marine related matters including training resource provision.
Email: Ljfireco1@aol.com
Web: www.professional-rescue.co.uk
Photographs by: David Lane, (Lane, Jefferies & Associates Ltd), Hereford and Worcester FRS and Mijn Schijf, NL.
Multi-national resources in the field of operations EU Floodex ’09
