Shortly before 9am on 7 July 2005, we received
calls to various locations in central London where there were
reports of explosions on the Underground system.
Bombs had exploded on three Underground trains
at King’s Cross, Aldgate East and Edgware Road. These were followed
by another bomb on a bus at Tavistock Square.
What we did on the day
During the next few hours, we worked with
other blue-light services to rescue and treat casualties, and take
them to various London hospitals. We were supported by St John
Ambulance, the Red Cross, and surrounding ambulance services.
More than 250 members of our staff were
involved in our emergency response. They treated more than 400
patients, some of whom had sustained horrific injuries. They gave
them emergency care and support, and took them all to hospital
within three and a half hours of the bombings taking place.
For a short period of time, while we were
under immense pressure, we responded to life-threatening calls
only.
Debriefs were held on the day
and all staff who attended the scenes, or were involved in
managing the incident, were offered counselling and welfare
support.
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What we learned
We learned a great deal from the tragic events
of 7 July and have made a number of significant developments and
improvements so that we are better prepared if anything similar
happens again. These include:
- introducing the Airwave digital radio system, which includes
coverage on the Underground.
- sending a pre-determined response to a major incident,
including 20 ambulances, 10 officers and all available emergency
support vehicles carrying extra equipment.
- replacing our previous incident control room with a new
purpose-built one, able to help manage multiple
simultaneous major incidents.
- improving major incident training for staff
- introducing new medical equipment for the treatment of
seriously injured patients.
Some of these changes were already in progress
when, in June 2006, the London Assembly’s 7 July Review Committee
published the findings of its review of the response to the
bombings. It praised the courage and determination of
emergency service staff on the day, but said that some of the
processes used by the organisations involved needed to be
addressed.
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The coroner's inquests and next steps
In October 2010, the coroner's inquests into
the deaths of the 52 victims of the bombings were resumed at the
Royal Courts of Justice.
The hearings lasted for more than six months and in early May the
coroner, Lady Justice Hallett, concluded that "on the balance
of probabilities", none of the victims could have been saved
whatever time the emergency services had arrived.
However, the inquests heard in detail about the difficulties we
experienced with communications, and the impact these had on the
speed at which we were able to send crews to some of the
scenes.
The coroner made nine recommendations intended to prevent deaths
in the future, a number of which are relevant to us. All the
recommendations were set out in a formal document known as a
Rule 43 report.
We gave our initial response to Lady
Justice Hallett's findings on the day that she delivered her
verdicts.
In July 2011, our formal response to her Rule 43
report was also published.
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