How are major incidents handled?

The first response to major incidents is usually by the emergency services (Police, Fire, Ambulance, Coastguard). They will assess the situation and decide whether to alert other agencies to help manage the incident. This is where local authorities are often called on to help.

The response to major incidents is normally co-ordinated by the Police, although individual agencies are responsible for their own operations. In Sussex, detailed arrangements are in place for a co-ordinated response to major incidents. These operate at different levels from county-wide strategic co-ordination down to tactical and operational command.

Arrangements are kept under regular review and are the subject of regular inter-agency training and exercising to test their effectiveness. This involves all the responding agencies (see 'Agencies' in Related Topics).