Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Fire Standard launched

The development of this Fire Standard has been led by Chief Fire Officer Phil Garrigan (whose Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service oversees national resilience capabilities on behalf of the Home Office) and Stuart Errington, the NFCC’s lead for local resilience forums.

The Fire Standard’s development was also supported by business continuity and national and local resilience practitioners from across a wide range of services, in addition to the Home Office and the Cabinet Office.

A desired outcome of the Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Fire Standard is that Fire and Rescue Services will contribute effectively to national resilience requirements and have suitable and sufficient access to resources and assets to support their response to local, regional and national scale emergencies.

As is the case with all Fire Standards, there’s a corresponding Fire Standards implementation tool to support Fire and Rescue Services with the implementation. The tool is designed to support Fire and Rescue Services in assessing how well they meet the standard, helping them to build an Action Plan to identify and address any gaps.

Consistent approach

Mark Hardingham, chair of the NFCC, said: “The Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Fire Standard aims to ensure that there is a consistent approach from Fire and Rescue Services in preparing for, and responding to, major incidents and emergencies.”

Hardingham continued: “Thankfully, major incidents and emergencies are infrequent, but when they do happen, members of the public should be reassured that their local Fire and Rescue Service is prepared to ensure an effective response through a standardised approach to emergency preparedness.”

Suzanne McCarthy, chair of the Fire Standards Board, added: “The Board welcomes the launch of the new Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Fire Standard and recognises the contribution it will bring to Fire and Rescue Services and the communities they serve. This latest Fire Standard builds on our increasing portfolio of professional Fire Standards.”

Fire Minister Lord Stephen Greenhalgh observed: “I’m delighted to see the launch of the Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Fire Standard. This will help to ensure consistency in how Fire and Rescue Services prepare for and respond to major incidents and emergencies and, importantly, how they will work with partner agencies. It will provide reassurance to the public that their local Fire and Rescue Services is resilient and prepared to deliver a co-ordinated response to any emergency scenario.”

*Further details about the Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Fire Standard can be found online by visiting the Fire Standards Board’s website at www.firestandards.org