The METHANE report

So we briefly touched on the importance of getting this methane report from the scene, getting it accurate and getting it to control as quick as possible. Justin, if I bring Justin into this point, explain to me Justin what is a methane, how it works and why it's so important?

Right. So methane is what we call a critical message structure, which basically means it gives critical information to not only the control room, but any other assets that are listening on the radio talk group. So everybody has a situational awareness at the same time. It is used when we have either a major incident or a major incident stand by...

Okay.

When it is used in full as methane. It is used on day-to-day business by removing the M and using ethane for smaller jobs, so that people get used to the critical message structure. And the first time they do it is not necessarily when they are faced with their first major incident.

So other services all use the same process, the fire service, and police also use the methane and ethane?

They certainly use the methane, some fire services use the ethane, whilst we are supposed to have a joint approach there will still be services that are using other acronyms, but under the joint emergency services, interoperability principles, everybody should now be using methane for major incidents.

And what does that consist of then?

Right, so let's just revisit first, before we get into methane, what is a major incident? Because I think it's important to stress a couple of things here.

Yeah.

So first of all, what is a major incident for one service may not necessarily be a major incident for another service.

Okay.

So if I put myself in a completely different role and pretend I'm a police officer in a country lane, the only police officer for about 10 or 12 miles and I've got a multi vehicle RTC, which for me would be three or four vehicles and I'm the only police officer, clearly, I don't have enough resources for me, as a police officer, that might well be a major incident. However, with the likelihood of say, shall we say six or seven casualties at most, it is unlikely to be a major incident for the ambulance service or the health authorities.

Yeah.

Remembering that the definition for a major incident is any incident where by the number, type, severity or location requires the implementation of special procedures.

Got you.

So methane itself, standing for major incident standby or declared and therefore probably quite important to decide what the difference between standby and declared actually is. Declared is used when you look at it and you go, there are definitely a large number of casualties here, I can tell that we're going to have to put a large number of resources into it.

Yeah.

If you're looking at something where you think, "Well, this should be a major incident, but I can not actually see the casualties yet, the building has collapsed." You might not know whether it was evacuated before that had occurred.

Yeah.

But the theory says potentially there's a large number of casualties than that is the standby element until you can confirm...

Confirm.

Confirm, yeah, that you do have a large number of casualties. Exact location, key word that exact because a site like this, which stretches over a fair number of square miles, has multiple entrances and actually getting the right entrance to be able to get your assets in is important.

Okay.

Postcodes don't work particularly well in rural areas, rural areas postcode can be up to five square miles and nowadays services tend to use what three words which is a system for dividing down into square meters, individually identified places so you can get down to being quite accurate as to entrance is entrances by using a what three words system.

Yeah.

Type of incident, it doesn't need to be a great description it just needs to be something short sharp that lets people know reasonably what type of incident is going on and that could be something like multiple vehicle RTC explosion industrial unit.

So in here it will be rockfall...

Rockfall, multiple casualties, yeah, quarry site.

Yeah.

Yeah, that is probably all you need in the initial stages.

Okay.

Hazards. And when you are looking at hazards, we're looking at both the present and the potential. So hazards that you can obviously see that will cause you a problem, whether that will be smoke, in terms of preventing your access and your responders getting in without having to use PPE, whether it's debris or the risk of further landslide as perhaps it might be in the case here that you have mentioned the collapse collapsed vehicle, so maybe perhaps electrical issues or fuel...

Yeah, yeah.

That may well be a problem. But it is important to define the difference between those that you can see, what is actually there as hazards and what may present as a hazard later on potential.

So in a quarry for instance, if we got torrential rain coming for days, then flooding and that sort of stuff could also come into this, the prediction is...

Not necessarily a problem now, but could well be later on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got that.

So the next one access, yeah?

Yeah.

And access is actually... Access and egress. To be fair, you are not going to know that in the initial stages. You are going to know what the access is potentially.

Because that is where you have arrived.

Because that is where you have arrived and that is where you want stuff to come from. Particularly with a site like this, with multiple entrances, you may not have worked out what your circuit is going to be, what your egress is going to be.

Mm-hmm.

You are ideally looking to have, one way in, one way out, but that is not always possible.

So would you say then, that for a site like this, a site plan, a site map, specifically mapped marked out, would be a benefit for when you arrive on scene. If somebody could hand you that, and you can actually see where your access and egress is, on a planned map. That is going to be a benefit for the organisation?

Absolutely, yeah.

And a benefit for the services, as well, when they arrive?

Yeah, and a lot of times, particularly where there are sites which deal with large amounts of chemical, and other major accident hazards, those will already be in place.

Mm-hmm.

But They are exceptionally useful, because in general terms, they are not a site that most of us will have visited previously.

Yeah, yeah, okay.

If you don't know what the egress is, it's important to probably stay in the methane egress, not yet known.

Yeah.

It lets the control room know, you are on it, but you are not quite there yet.

But you are not there yet, yeah.

Number of casualties, it's actually number and type of casualties. In the first stages, you are probably not going to know the number.

Mm-hmm.

But a good guess, to give you a ballpark figure in order to inform control about the number of additional resources they may wish to send.

Yeah.

Is important so, if you look at it, you are trying to work out on roughly what it is. But The chances are you are going to be wrong.

Yeah.

Actually, it's good to have a starting point, a number of casualties, estimated, keyword.

Yeah.

Figures 50.

Yeah.

Or figures, five, zero, zero, I.e., 500.

Yeah.

If you think that the casualties are all going to be one type, which is quite important, because that weren't affect you so much as the first responders, but it will affect the rest of the NHS. So, if there were predominantly, burns...

Burns, yeah.

Yeah, that...

We might be using other areas or the burns units, rather the ones in local vicinity.

That is right.

Yeah.

In fact, in some cases, particularly with burns, as they are not a large number of burns bed in the United Kingdom, you may be starting certain to stretch into an international instant. In terms of using burns facilities, in Europe and other things. To actually understand that at the beginning...

In the early days.

Is quite important. Number and type we have covered, so the last is emergency services on scene.

Mm-hmm.

What you have got?

Yeah.

Yeah, and emergency services required. From a medical point of view, that's the bit you are interested in. First, what additional, particularly, specialist assets, you might need, whether that be the, hazards area response team, whether that be, basics doctors, whether that be, Heli-med.

Mm-hmm.

Or any other specialist things that are going to help you, like technical rescue from fire service or...

Yeah.

Mountain rescue, if it's available, and again this is about them having the knowledge of what is locally available to you, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

If you don't know, as the first on scene, I will guarantee that your control room will.

Yeah. Would you say on-site, it's an important thing, really... Do you think, with your experience that sites like this, do the risk assessments okay, but don't actually think about the bigger picture. So if... They have got the site prepared for a major incident, but they don't actually look at what happens when the other services arrive on scene, like access egress, that sort of stuff. Is your experience that they don't tend to plan for that side of it, just a bit that they doing in-site, or do you think they are pretty much got it nailed?

I think it depends upon the sites, and in general. You're going to look at it from their point of view, as a business, they are trying to do the minimum required to tick the boxes...

Yeah.

In order to get their health, and safety and risk assessments correct and so, it may well be that they have done it exceptionally well from their point of view, but if you don't interact with the responders that are going to come to you.

Yeah.

There will be holes in the plan, there always is.

Yeah.

So time spent in preparation and communication...

Yeah.

Yeah, with emergency services, particularly for an industry or workshop, etcetera, is probably useful.

Yeah.

Also, bear in mind, that you are the subject matter expert.

Mm-hmm.

You know more about these machines, the hazards, the risks here, than the emergency services will. So it is very important to understand that you are not just handing over to the emergency services, you will be part of...

Yeah, and working with.

That response, and working with, and you need to have allocated people to do that.

Yeah, yeah, so this course actually would benefit quality health and safety managers, as well as other services involvement, because the two need to work together, and at the time of need. If they don't fit together, like a glove, then a little bit of apprehension, chaos tends to reign in the initial onset.

Yeah, and even if it's something as simple as talking the same language.

Yeah.

When the first service arrives, you can give your methane to them.

Yeah.

Using a structure that they know and understand, save time, energy and effort.

Yeah.

Now, it's important to also understand perhaps that your methanes can be wrong.

Mm-hmm.

And quite often are, because what you are told initially...

Yeah, may not be true.

May not, necessarily be true, not because anyone is intentionally done so, but it's because of their perception of it. To give an example of a large one, if you think of the London tube bombings...

Mm-hmm.

In the first 45 minutes of that, that was thought to have been exploding electrical sub-stations, therefore, an infrastructure problem. It took 45 minutes to an hour to work out actually it was terrorist with bombs.

Yeah.

Even the type of incident can actually be wrong, and therefore, it's important, as a commander when you arrive to confirm and verify all the information, because I guarantee whatever you were told initially, it will have changed by the time that you arrive.