Future exercises will tackle incidents such as an avian flu epidemic or a major disaster such as a plane crash, terrorist attack or flooding.
That is after a recent London-wide exercise to test the Capital’s preparedness for a major emergency was led by Barking and Dagenham Council. On 5 March, 32 London boroughs activated their emergency control centres to ensure that in the case of a serious incident, they would be able to cope.
The exercise saw a major storm hitting the National Grid and EDF energy distribution network, causing serious power cuts across London. As the lead authority Barking and Dagenham, was London Local Authority Gold, responsible for ensuring that the exercise met the exacting criteria to respond to this emergency.
The pan-London Emergency Planning Response exercise is undertaken on a regular basis. Barking and Dagenham emergency officers took charge of the huge exercise, run with the London Local Authority Coordination Centre (LLACC).
The LLACC is operated on behalf of London councils by the London Fire Brigade to test the effectiveness and coordination of London councils. The one-day exercise, code-named Exercise Safer City, examined the efficiency of the LLACC and the south London based Borough Emergency Control Centre’s operating arrangements and procedures.
