Against a backdrop of increased UK terror attacks in recent times, NARU continues to play a key role in ensuring staff are sufficiently trained and able to deliver patient care on-scene and at the point of injury regardless of hazard and complexity of the incident.
The first ever Commander Confidence Survey – commissioned by NARU and designed to get a better understanding of the real challenges facing ambulance service commanders in these major incident situations – has been completed by 270 commanders, with responses received from all NHS ambulance services.
Topics covered included the selection of commanders, their training and development and the support they have received in their roles. 49 Strategic (formerly Gold), 84 Tactical (formerly Silver) and 137 operational (formerly Bronze) commanders completed the survey which was run on behalf of NARU by Zeal Solutions.
NARU Head of Education David Bull QAM said:
“This was a real first for NARU being the only survey of commander confidence ever to be undertaken in the NHS ambulance service. The findings from the survey highlighted some key areas of focus for NARU which will ultimately enhance commander confidence and improve the overall ambulance response to mass casualty or other major incidents.
The outcomes will be reviewed to ensure current command training products are fit for purpose and to enable the enhancement and development of new command education materials.
With five terrorist attacks in seven months it has never been more important to ensure on-scene commanders and responders are as prepared as possible.”
NARU are now considering running this survey on an annual basis.
More information is available from tony@zealsolutions.co.uk.