Page 25 - Group Leader Handbook

Major Incident Procedures

General Guidance for Staff Terrorist Attacks
In the event of a major emergency (e.g. traffic accident, fire, explosion) all staff While the chances of being directly in-
should follow these basic guidelines: volved in a terrorist attack are quite low,
we must be prepared for the possibility
 Take immediate control of the situation until the emergency services take over –
you are responsible for the safety and security of the students in your group of being caught up in one, or in the
effects of one. This guidance covers ac-
 Assess the situation tual or suspected terrorist attacks; in
2005 we were initially told there was a
 Your first priority is to the safety of your group – Ensure that they are all safe and
fire on the underground – it turned out
supervised before you attempt to do anything else. Don’t allow any of them to to be a planned attack on the London
wander off.
transport network - so if there is any
 Check if there are any injuries (see below) doubt we must play safe.

 Contact the Head Office or centre emergency number for support
Dealing with Injuries Guidance for staff on excursion
If you call emergency services (999 or 112) they will often give you advice over the  Call the centre to report in as soon as
phone while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. General guidelines: possible. Remember that you may
not have mobile phone coverage
 DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE INJURED PEOPLE. The only exception to this is if they (the security services turn off the
are only slightly wounded and they are in danger where they are.
network) so you may have to find a
 Find out who is injured and who needs your help the most. As a guide, prioritise landline. Keep checking in for infor-
unconscious people first. mation and to keep the centre in-
formed.
 Perform basic first aid if you know how e.g. apply pressure to wounds, keep
airways open  If you need to wait for pick up find a
safe place to wait in, such as a park.
 Injured people need to be supervised at all times; keep them awake and talking
Be careful not to lose anyone!
 Keep checking everyone periodically – there could be injuries you didn’t see at  In cities, any incident usually has a
first or someone you thought was only slightly injured could get worse
major effect on the transport net-
 If anyone is taken to hospital, find out which hospital before they leave. A Group work and roads may be blocked for a
Leader or a member of staff should accompany them if at all possible. considerable period of time, so you
may need to walk to a pick up point.
Looking after a group at an accident scene
If you do, avoid potential terrorist
If your group is present at an accident you may have to look after them for some targets such as Parliament, palaces,
time. Keep them calm and comforted, and keep them updated about anything we train/underground stations, Harrods
are doing to help them. If possible, and the group members are uninjured, take them etc.
to a safe place away from the scene of the accident.
 Try to keep everyone calm and en-
Remember to consider their emotional needs but also consider potential conduct courage them to be patient – if it’s a
issues e.g. stop them taking photos, keep them from getting in the way. real terrorist attack they may experi-
ence major delays.
Communications
In the event of any accident affecting your group:
 Call the centre or the Head Office emergency number (07419 373982) to report
the incident. Head Office will deal with calls to/from clients and make arrange-
ments to help you.

 Keep your phone line open and preserve battery life. Avoid making/receiving un-
necessary calls and keep calls brief.
 You will need to provide a report on the incident later so try to keep notes, espe-
cially names/phone number of witnesses/police etc
 Do not speak to the press or allow any students to. Also, ask students not to post
anything on social media sites. Apart from worrying their family, it could cause
distress to others

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