What is a Major Incident?
A major incident is a serious event that needs an immediate response from the emergency services. Police, fire and ambulance services may all respond. Other organisations may also help. These can include councils, NHS services and utility companies. A major incident can cause serious harm, damage or disruption. It may also put people’s lives at risk. Examples include:
- a terrorist attack
- a building collapse
- a pandemic
- serious flooding
- severe snow
Our Role in a Major Incident
The ambulance service is an important part of the NHS response to a major incident. Our teams provide care at the scene and help people who are injured or unwell. We also work to protect the wider public and reduce further harm. When a major incident is declared, we can send extra ambulances, staff and specialist teams to the scene. Senior staff will help manage our response. We can also ask staff to return to work if more help is needed. This helps us respond to the major incident while continuing to provide our normal services. We work closely with the police, fire service and other organisations. We follow agreed JESIP principles, which help emergency services work together during an incident. Our aim is to provide the right care to those affected while reducing disruption to other NHS services.
Our Responsibilities in a Major Incident
The ambulance service helps to organise the NHS response to a major incident. Our responsibilities include:
- treating patients
- assessing patients to decide who needs care first
- taking patients to the most suitable hospital
- providing specialist teams and equipment when needed
- looking after the health, safety and wellbeing of NHS staff
- setting up a clear system to manage the NHS response
- supporting NHS staff and other organisations at the scene
- managing NHS communications at the scene
Our specialist teams can work in dangerous areas. They can also help when people have been exposed to harmful substances and during incidents involving an armed attacker.
Major Incident Training and Preparedness
Our staff receive regular training so they know how to respond to a major incident. We also take part in exercises with the police, fire service and other organisations. These exercises help us test our plans and practise how we would respond to a real incident. There are two main types of exercise.
Live exercises
These recreate a major incident, such as a train crash or explosion. Staff respond as they would to a real emergency. Volunteers may play the role of patients so teams can practise assessing and treating people.
Tabletop exercises
Staff work through an example of a major incident and discuss how they would manage it. These exercises help us test our response and identify where we can improve.
We regularly review our major incident plans. We use what we learn from exercises and real incidents, both locally and across the country, to keep our plans up to date.
What should you do during a major incident?
If you are affected by a major incident:
- Move to a place of safety, if it is safe to do so.
- Follow instructions from emergency services and other authorised responders.
- Call 999 if someone is seriously ill, injured or in immediate danger.
- Avoid the incident area unless you have been advised that it is safe to enter.
- Follow official updates from emergency services and local authorities.