Attack emergency teams unveiled

Attack emergency teams unveiled

A specialist emergency group to deal with any incident involving weapons of mass destruction in Northern Ireland is being launched.

The Emergency Medical Assistance and Rescue Teams have been trained to deal with a major incident involving a chemical, biological or nuclear attack.

The teams are based on the rescue crews which dealt with the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on 11 September, 2001.

More than 90 doctors, nurses, ambulance and fire officers have been trained since recruitment of volunteers began in November 2002.

The teams will provide a regional specialist response to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents, as well as providing a facility for large-scale medical assistance at the site of a local major incident.

They will also be able to support existing hospital facilities and provide assistance with search and rescue.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Henrietta Campbell said it was vital that emergency services were prepared for anything.

She said the emergency services had been well equipped to deal with alerts in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, but the dangers were different nowadays.

The responsibility of our department is to ensure that our staff are ready to react

Dr Henrietta Campbell
Chief Medical Officer

Dr Campbell said staff were being trained to deal with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies.

"As we know from 11 September and other occasions where there have been serious terrorist incidents, the public have had great difficulty in knowing how to react," she said.

"The responsibility of our department is to ensure that our staff are ready to react, and that is what this exercise is about."

She said emergency services would learn to work as a co-ordinated team, and would be equipped and resourced to deal with any threats.

Northern Ireland was hit by a series of anthrax scares in the months following the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September, 2001, but the alerts all turned out to be false alarms.