The manufacture and use of homemade explosives poses a significant threat to first responders from all emergency services. To spot the signs of homemade or improvised explosive devices requires a comprehensive understanding of their make-up. Furthermore, should first responders encounter these situations, they must be ready to react safely by carrying out a robust first-response process.
Amba’s IED Awareness Training
Our IED awareness training is suitable for first-responders and for security teams who protect crowded places.
It is a one-day course, designed to raise awareness of IEDs, their components, effects and associated hazards. It instructs the delegate in how to assess an effective cordon and in the evacuation distances necessary to ensure the safety of others.
We recently delivered one such course to NARU, the National Ambulance Resilience Unit. NARU works nationally on behalf of each NHS Ambulance Trust in England to provide a coordinated approach to emergency preparedness, resilience and response. Through central coordination, NARU enables NHS Ambulance Trusts to work together to provide a safe and reliable response to major, complex and potentially protracted incidents.
The course links closely to Hazardous Area Response Teams known as HART. These teams are comprised of specially recruited and trained personnel who provide the ambulance response to particularly hazardous or challenging incidents, and in some cases where there is a mass casualty incident.
HART teams work alongside the police and fire & rescue services within what is known as the ‘inner cordon’ (or ‘hot zone’) of a major incident. The job of the HART teams is to triage and treat casualties and to help save lives in very difficult circumstances. They are also there to look after other emergency personnel who may become injured whilst attending these difficult and challenging incidents.
The IED Awareness Training was very well received by NARU. Gareth Williams, NARU Instructor, commented:
“We sat down as a faculty and discussed the training at length and we all agreed that it was a great session, with the linking of IED awareness to the HART-specific role particularly pleasing.”
Find out more about NARU and the world-class training that helps ambulance staff to save lives in the most difficult of circumstances: NARU education Centre.