It was a day which could have easily thrown the Capital into chaos. However one of the sentiments echoed around the world was the sense of calm and organisation which prevailed. One of the teams involved in the city’s response was the London Resilience Team (LRT) at Government Office for London .
LRT’s role is to support the delivery of the Government’s programme for strategic civil protection in London. On 7 July LRT became the Government’s principal channel for information on consequence and recovery issues. They also provided expert advice on London resilience plans. LRT’s secondees worked with transport, health and emergency services and provided links to Government.
Just weeks before LRT had finalised a Mass Fatalities Plan, which as events unfolded, was activated and set in motion. Working with the Mass Fatality Co-ordination and Mass Fatality Project Teams a mortuary was temporarily constructed within two days. LRT’s staff, secondees and GOL volunteers worked alongside the police covering a 24hr rota.
Other resilience plans that LRT had produced were also used. For example, the Department for Transport considered using part of an evacuation plan for London to get people home if transport was still suspended during the evening rush-hour.
LRT and GOL volunteers worked tirelessly to minimise the consequences of the bombings and they were joined by colleagues from other Government Offices in the regions who were quick to offer assistance to London. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was full of praise;
“I wanted to personally thank the London Resilience Team and all those from GOL who were drafted in to help, for your magnificent effort…the work that has been done to plan for an emergency such as this and then the back-up given to the police and other key services during the incident has been exemplary.”
The Mass Fatalities Plan was considered so effective that a national plan is being drawn up, and LRT also recently held a conference imparting the lessons learned from their experience with their European counterparts.
