'We were well prepared for this'

By Caroline Ryan
BBC News health reporter

Private ambulances took part in the emergency service response

Years of planning came into force for the emergency services after the London bomb attacks.

Many of those who took part had experience of other incidents, such as the IRA Docklands bombing or the rail crashes at Southall and Ladbrooke Grove.

And since the 9/11 attacks in America, plans for how London would respond to a major attack have been stepped up.

The police, fire and ambulance services were informed as soon as the first explosion took place at 8.51BST in a tube train close to Liverpool Street station.

I was extremely proud to work for the London Ambulance Service yesterday Paul Woodrow, Ambulance Operations Manager at the Russell Square incident

As news of each incident came in, the nearest crews were sent to the scene.

Once it became clear that they were major incidents, the plans which had been prepared so meticulously came into force.

Malcolm Kelly, an Assistant Commissioner for London Fire Brigade took charge of the scene at Edgware Road, which was attended by over 70 fire brigade personnel.

He said exercises, such as the simulated chemical attack at Bank station in 2003, had prepared the fire service for the kind of training, equipment and planning needed to deal with an incident in the tube.

He added: "London, sadly, has come through a series of events, whether they be terrorist attacks or genuine accidents, which have meant we have been able to refine and refine again the procedures."

Mr Kelly said firefighters arriving at the scene of an incident would first encounter the walking wounded.

"But the discipline of the fire crews should direct them to those more seriously injured people at the epicentre of the incident.

"If they see a seriously injured person who will benefit from their help, it's a judgement call as to whether they divert from their original course of action."

Mr Kelly said there were enough emergency personnel at the scene to help everyone.

But specialist equipment was needed to help some of those trapped in the incident.

'Comfort'

Paul Woodrow, an Ambulance Operations Manager for London Ambulance Service, said emergency services responded as they had in practice many times.

"We have all trained together and practised together as a team."

Mr Woodrow arrived at Russell Square around eight minutes after emergency services were alerted to the incident.

He said: "First of all, we wanted to ascertain what's happening, and set up a command structure.

"We set up a triage area in the concourse of the tube station so we could establish who needed what level of care.

"People had the kind of injuries you would expect after a blast, ranging from burns to broken limbs.

"We dealt with a considerable number of people. We managed to remove all of the patients from the scene within an hour and a half."

But he said one thing which surprised him was the response of people who were not involved in the incident.

"As emergency services, we had to concentrate on those who were injured so we could get them to hospital as soon as possible.

"But there were members of the public who were comforting those who were not injured, but who were walking around dazed and shocked.

"There were also people in surrounding shops bringing out water.

"People were offering to give something back. We saw the best in people."

He added: "On a personal level, I was as horrified by events as everybody else.

"But we have a job to do and we had a plan for how to do it. We just have to concentrate and be professional.

"I was extremely proud to work for the London Ambulance Service yesterday."