Emergency plan outlines how to deal with ‘dirty’ bomb

OFFICIALS have put huge efforts into drawing up emergency plans to deal with a mass terror strike on British soil.

The British Home Office published a document in May last year - thankfully not required to be set into motion yesterday - which set out decontamination processes in the wake of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) strike, such as a “dirty” bomb.

Guidance has also been issued on how to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people in the event of a nuclear strike on London.

All emergency services have repeatedly rehearsed their reaction to a terror strike. The most high-profile exercise was staged in September 2003 with a simulated “chemical strike” on an Underground train at Bank station in the City of London.

The Home Office paper deals with mass deaths after terror attacks, accidents or natural disasters, and is aimed at emergency planners in town halls across England and Wales.

It was too early to say how many of its recommendations would be implemented after yesterday’s blasts.

The paper warns local planners to select carefully the sites of temporary mortuaries, explaining the facilities may be required for “months and in some cases years” after a CBRN incident.

Buildings used to hold the bodies of those killed in a so-called “mass fatality incident” may need to be demolished afterwards, the 90-page document says.

One recommendation from the paper is that a so-called Identification Commission should be set up in the event of a disaster to ensure bodies are correctly identified.

Chaired by the local coroner, the commission would include police, pathologists and other identification specialists such as forensic anthropologists and fingerprint experts.

“The importance of honest, accurate information being provided to bereaved families as early and as regularly as possible cannot be overstated,” the paper says.

The document, entitled Guidance on Dealing with Fatalities in Emergencies, gives general instructions on how bodies may need to be decontaminated after a CBRN incident.

Guidance is also given on offering bereaved families counselling.

The British government has also distributed a 22-page leaflet giving advice to the public on what to do in the event of an attack.

It was sent to all 25 million homes in Britain last summer in an £8.3 million public information drive. The 22-page pamphlet includes details on the operation of mass decontaminations after a CBRN attack, basic first aid advice and how to prevent an attack. The leaflet includes a list of items householders should keep at home, including bottled water, tinned food, a battery radio, torch, spare batteries, first aid kit, mobile phone and cash. It was written by government officials and experts from the emergency services, MI5, the Chief Medical Officer and the Emergency Planning Society.

President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Chris Fox, said at the launch of the leaflet that people were less prepared for an emergency today than they were 30 years ago. They had become accustomed to “comfortable” lives in a 24-hour convenience culture, he said.