The TVLRF enables those involved in emergency preparedness, from local authorities and emergency services, to health and environment agencies, to work together to prepare and respond at a local level. This Everbridge solution will allow the TVLRF to send targeted notifications to agencies affected or involved in the response from the outset of and during an incident.
“We previously used a manual system to invoke a response to a major incident, using basic call sheets to contact the partner agencies.We also relied heavily on email which was not effective if there was an urgent need to notify key personnel out of normal business hours, especially during the night, or if they were on leave,” explained Ben Axelsen, TVLRF partnership manager. “Needless to say, it was slow, inefficient and liable to error. Whilst this has not impacted on our ability to respond to a major incident to date, the risk was something we needed to mitigate against.”
The TVLRF moved to the new Everbridge system in July 2019 initially with Thames Valley Police as the primary agency tasked with sending activations. Since its implementation, the system has already been used twice to quickly organise multi-agency teleconferences in response to the recent heat-health level 3 in July and a scaffolding collapse in Reading in early August. On both occasions, it worked very effectively.
Axelsen added, “Thanks to Everbridge we can now send targeted notifications with a high level of reliability, which are recognised by our agencies as being the source of truth to be trusted and acted upon. In the event that a situation is more serious, complex or has the potential to be protracted, we can initiate our command structures significantly faster than we could previously, enabling us to share situational awareness, assess the risk and manage an effective joint response.”
While considering solutions, the TVLRF learnt that its partner agency, the South Central Ambulance Service, was already using Everbridge effectively. That successful use case impacted its decision to assess and then deploy the solution itself.
Javier Colado, senior vice president of International at Everbridge, commented, “When seconds matter, a critical event management platform can automate alarms, digital signs, and messages based on event type, severity, and location. We are very happy to be sharing our extensive experience gained from serving the populations of entire cities and countries around the world to help streamline the processes and response times at TVLRF.”
The borders of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) match those of Thames Valley Police and cover a 2,200 square mile area encompassing Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes. More TVLRF partners will use the system as initial training is rolled out across the area.
