Warwickshire News Mine

The conference, which is being held at the University of Warwickshire on June 25 and 26, will start with an impressive line-up of keynote speakers who will distil their experience and views into practical lessons for all those involved in emergency response command and strategy.

This international event will challenge and evolve current thinking and practice on disaster and emergency command issues. Subjects covered range from radiological emergencies and Polonium 210, strategic lessons learned from the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany, through to mass fatality events and environmental versus terrorist threats.

Robert Whalley, CB, former Director of Counter Terrorism and Intelligence at the British Home Office, will discuss issues arising at the level of central Government decision-making during an operational crisis, while Colin Smith, QPM, Head of the EU Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories, will look at decision-making in conflict zones, referring to his experiences in Iraq and Palestine.

Dr Patrick Lagadec (France) will put the case for a new command approach to be taken in order to confront today’s inconceivable and emerging crises.

Radiological emergencies will be covered next, with two presentations on the Polonium 210 emergency in the UK; Dr Roger Gilmour from the Health Protection Agency and John Barradell from Westminster City Council will analyse the multi-agency and unusual features of this prolonged event. They will be followed by Paul Forbes, Chief Superintendent of Hampshire Police, looking at the relationships between the blue light emergency services, with particular regard to co-operation on CBRN issues, and Tom McKenna of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Austria) describing a new field manual for first responders at radiological emergencies.

Day two will focus on two themes, the first being that of mass fatality events. Speakers from London Fire Brigade, Hamburg Fire Brigade and Kenyon International will debate large scale national resilience, command and preparation for mass sporting events and explore the role of the private sector. This will be followed by presentations looking at lessons learned from the Winter Willow pandemic exercise and medical command lessons learned from the London July 7 bombings.

Finally, a discussion session on ‘Preparing for the future: Environmental disasters versus the terrorist threat’ will examine, in depth, what speakers - and delegates - feel are the most imminent and potentially dangerous threats on the horizon. Malcolm Weatherall from the Met Office will describe the direct effects of climate change on emergency service operations, Colin Smith will look at future terrorist developments, including the threat of suicide bombers, Dr Jonathon Lohn will look at medical implications of terrorism and Peter Craig of Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue will draw upon his considerable experience in this field.

Rod Stafford will tell delegates about a major European project to develop cross border flood response and maritime search and rescue across the EU, while a speaker from NATO will examine the civil-military dimension of a large scale emergency. A panel discussion will conclude the conference.

County Fire Officer, William Brown said:
“The importance of effective joint working between agencies has never been as important as it is today.  The variety and complexity of incidents we could face is increasing and, in most cases, they will only be resolved through a combined effort.  This Conference goes some way to ensuring the successful outcome we all plan for.”

IJOCC 2007 is being held at the University of Warwickshire, UK, 25 - 26 June. It is organised by Crisis Response Journal, with the Vector Command Foundation and counts as 11 hours’ CPD from the Institution of Fire Engineers. More details from: http://www.ijocc.eu; info@ijocc.eu (tel: 01306 876856).

Link to WCC