999 teams' ability to handle terror attack under review

Published on Tuesday 9 March 2010 21:50

SCOTLAND'S readiness to deal with the aftermath of a terror attack is to be assessed in a major review.

Government inspectors of police, fire and the NHS will carry out a joint review of procedures in the emergency services.

They will focus on the "blue light" services – police, fire and ambulance – and the ability of accident and emergency departments to deal with large numbers of casualties.

Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Bill Skelly, yesterday told The Scotsman that he was already planning a joint inspection with the Scottish Government's fire advisory board and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, the health watchdog.

Mr Skelly said: "This is going to be a big job for us over the next six months.

"There has been a lot of investment in Scotland on how various areas are prepared for an incident. We are going to do a joint inspection. We are at the planning stage.

"Essentially we are talking about the preparedness of the blue light services, including the ambulance service, but also of accident and emergency."