Large scale multi-agency training and gang violence

March's Forum saw aspects of prehospital medicine from an alternative perspective....  

The evening began with Louise Elstow; a consultant in Emergency Management for a range of clients in public and private sectors; both in the UK and internationally. Clients across a wide range of bases. including: healthcare, nuclear and transport industries. Louise has an MSc in risk, crisis and disaster management; and is currently undertaking a PhD in nuclear recovery and contamination issues. She was a member of the team who delivered and facilitated the LiveEx in Exercise Unified Response - in her role of coordinator. The talk delivered at the forum described the exercise unified response training exercise that was executed last year. The training programme involved over 100 organisations - including all members of the emergency team, including those from abroad.  Louise explained in detail the set up of the mass casualty, which was based on two underground trains colliding, with multiple casualties. The complexity of scene management and multi-organisation response was highlighted, especially with the incorporation of aid received from the EU. It was interesting to see the learning points that were raised, and how each branch of the emergency services is developing their protocols and plans with regards to a major incident, in response to this exercise. See the video for how this exercise was executed.

After a short break, and information regarding the new PCP application process, we were joined by BSc PCP student Matthew Dawson.
Matt delivered his dissertation talk on gang and youth violence in relation to an event he attended whilst on a PCP shift. The case presented was a young man who had been stabbed, which resulted in a thoracotomy and transport to hospital. The talk focused however on our perceptions of young people who become victims to crimes such as this, with emphasis on the fact that "Serious youth violence does not always equal gang crime". The talk concluded with some key learning points regarding how violence in these subgroups of young people can be reduced and prevented, through organisations such as St Giles Trust and Street Doctors by breaking the cycle of offending.

​For more information on these organisations please visit:
http://www.stgilestrust.org.uk/
​http://streetdoctors.org/

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