Assistance in Major Incidents

A 'major incident' is any emergency that requires the operation of special arrangements by one or all of the Emergency Responders. 

Emergency Responders are:

• the Police Service 
• the Fire Service
• the Ambulance Service
• The National Health Service

More specifically, a 'major incident' can be defined as:

• the rescue and transportation of a large number of casualties
• the involvement either directly or indirectly of large numbers of people
• the handling of a large number of enquiries likely to be generated both from the public and the news media, usually addressed by the Police
• the combined resources of the Police, Fire, and  Ambulance Services, the Health Service and Local Authorities on a large scale
• the mobilisation and organisation of the emergency responders and supporting agencies, e.g. local authority, to cater for the threat of death, serious injury or homelessness for large numbers of people

Declaration

A 'major incident' may be declared by any Oficer of one of the emergency responders who considers that any of the criteria outlined in the definition above has been satisfied.

Despite the fact that what is a 'major incident' to one of the Emergency Responders may not be so to another, each of the other Emergency Services will attend with an appropriate predetermined response. This is the case even if they are employed on a 'stand-by' capacity and not directly involved in the incident.

The City Council works within the multi-agency arrangements developed for dealing with major incidents within Greater Manchester.

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The Four Stages of a Major Incident

Most major incidents can be considered to have four stages:

1. the initial response
2. the consolidation phase
3. the recovery phase
4. the restoration of normality

An investigation into the cause of the incident may be superimposed onto the whole structure.