Sunday Herald, The: Plans for aftermath of terror attackplaying 'Russian roulette' with

A CHEMICAL, biological or nuclear incident in Scotland would result in the needless deaths of many members of the public and the emergency services because Scottish fire brigades are too poorly equipped and inadequately trained to cope.

The Scottish Fire Service's ability to respond to such an incident is attacked in an internal health and safety report, passed to the Sunday Herald, which says "Russian roulette" is being played with the lives of the public.

It reveals that brigades don't have the right equipment to de- contaminate civilians and save lives in the event of a terrorist incident such as a chemical gas attack in a public area such as the Glasgow Underground or tourist areas such as Edinburgh's Old Town.

In the worst case scenario, large numbers of firefighters could be wiped out within minutes of attending the scene of a terrorist incident because they know so little about the procedures needed.

The report was prepared by the Scottish Fire Brigades' Union (FBU), which claims that politicians and brigade chiefs put pressure on fire crews to attend rescue missions in the event of a terrorist attack even though the equipment they were supplied with was inadequate. Politicians and fire chiefs also failed to ensure firefighters were adequately trained. Yet the FBU say the Scottish Executive made political capital out of falsely claiming the country's emergency services were prepared for terrorist acts.

The FBU yesterday described the Executive's actions as "obscene" and opposition MSPs want Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson called to account for boasting earlier this year of "significantly enhancing" the capabilities of the fire service to deal with terror attacks.

The FBU's health and safety chief Alex Macleerie visited the four Scottish fire brigades which have been supplied with a Mass Incident Unit (MIU) for dealing with terrorist attacks - Lothian and Borders, Grampian, Strathclyde and Central - to assess how safe the equipment was for firefighters and how well-trained they were in its use.

Macleerie says a series of vital items were missing from the MIU in Strathclyde. There was only one mass decontamination structure on board when there should have been two; there were only two, rather than three, 6000 litre mass containment dams; there were no containers for the detergent solution used to wash down contaminated people and there was no proper chimney for the hot water heater.

Macleerie's report added: "It was abundantly clear that the crews were not adequately trained on the contents and requirements of the vehicle." Senior officers told him "they had little or no training or knowledge of the subject at all". Macleerie says in his report: "It is a scenario I find totally unacceptable, if not extremely dangerous."

When asked how they would respond to a chemical attack by terrorists, the firefighters made fatal errors. Only two out of 11 were able to say that they should be no closer than 400 metres to the centre of the attack. Some said they would go as close as 50 metres - a course of action which would have resulted in most of the brigade dying at the scene.

Some firefighters didn't know how to adequately clean contaminated victims and hadn't been trained in the latest gas suits, which firefighters must use at incidents. Firefighters said they had only received between four and 14 hours training on the MIU, which Macleerie described as "a clear indication of a training failure".

The FBU inspectors found similar problems with MIUs, training and equipment in Lothian and Borders and Central brigades. Grampian brigade, which unlike the other three has not yet declared that it is operationally ready to deal with terror attacks, is at a far more prepared stage. Macleerie says in his report: "The question must be asked as to why other brigades have not acted as Grampian?"

The FBU now wants MIUs "removed from service until such times as it can be demonstrated that [they] are sufficiently ready to respond in a safe and professional manner the situation at the moment is playing Russian roulette with the safety of employees and members of the public. It is unacceptable to lull employees and members of the public into a false sense of security."

The report concludes: "There was an apparent overwhelming rush by certain brigades to declare themselves 'prepared', no doubt to coincide with the second anniversary of 9/11. The decision taken to go 'on line' with their respective mass decontamination equipment has the potential to lead to further catastrophic outcomes."

Earlier this year, Jamieson, who has responsibility for the fire service, said: "To meet the new level of terrorist threat that the events of September 11 have demonstrated now exists, the Executive has significantly enhanced the capabilities of the fire service, in particular on mass decontamination this required significant additional equipment, training and supporting infrastructure in order to ensure that the fire and rescue service was adequately prepared to provide an effective response in the event of an incident."

Kenny Ross, secretary of the Scottish FBU, said "huge political pressure" was placed on fire authorities to get MIUs up and running for the second anniversary of September 11. He claimed that, when the FBU and firefighters raised concerns about safety and training with chief officers, some staff were threatened with dismissal.

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP's justice spokeswoman, said the FBU report was "pretty horrifying", adding: "This amounts to a huge failure, both political and managerial." Sturgeon said that Jamieson's comments about the fire service were "clearly false and the minister should make an urgent statement to parliament to outline what steps are being taken to rectify this situation" and called on her to take fire chiefs to task over their "abject failure".

Dennis Davis, HM Inspector of the Scottish Fire Service said it was a "priority of the Executive to ensure that the bringing into use of this equipment occurred as soon as possible. We make no apology for the speed with which we acted. The public would expect nothing less."

He added that the FBU's concerns have not been ignored and that all the brigades involved have been contacted and he has "been reassured that all the necessary steps have or are being taken to meet any justifiable concerns".

Jamieson said she "completely rejected the allegation that the Executive has failed to take this issue seriously". However, she did say that she "took very seriously any sugg-estion that there are problems".

context The United Kingdom is currently on its second highest state of alert. Since September 11, Western governments have repeatedly promised the public that they would substantially beef up the ability of emergency services to deal with terror attacks on the home front.