Following the spate of recent terror attacks in Europe and other countries, the importance of checking and assuring the confidence of staff to respond to such incidents is considered a high priority by the National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU).
NARU commissioned Zeal Solutions to assess and understand the confidence of those ambulance personnel that were selected as part of the uplift process to support Trust responses to incidents classified as Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack (MTFA). The survey was issued to all MTFA uplift staff in all ambulance services and explored a number of areas considered important by NARU including, but not limited to:
- Individual confidence for dealing with MTFA incidents
- Collective confidence for dealing with MTFA incidents
- Knowledge associated with MTFA operating principles/procedures
- Knowledge associated with MTFA clinical principles/procedures
- Confidence associated with MTFA operating and clinical principles/procedures
- Perspectives on local and national training and exercises
The survey achieved a 52% response rate and a report on the key trends and findings provides NARU with a comprehensive analysis of how staff feel and identifies key areas of strength and weakness. As a consequence of the survey, NARU is now working with the Head of EPRR in each ambulance trust and other key stakeholders to develop an action plan so they can further improve the effectiveness of this capability and the support that is received.
The results of the survey are also feeding directly into the development of a new MTFA service specification (including a minimum set of core standards) by NARU, a new safe system of work and the national MTFA training packages.
For more information contact Tony Zarola at Zeal Solutions.