Bringing the emergency services together

All those involved in emergency prevention, response and recovery will be attending the Emergency Services Show. Government Business reveals what the industry can expect.

The Emergency Services Show will be taking place on 21-22 September at Hall 5 of Birmingham’s NEC. The additional space provided by the move to Hall 5 this year will allow for the show to grow and will mean that it can offer visitors more features and seminars during their visit.

There will be free seminars available to all visitors covering five main areas. These are: ICT Innovations; PPE; The Learning Zone; Drone Zone; and Home Safety.

Finding the right zone
Aimed at developing relationships and partnerships between voluntary organisations and the bluelight services, The Collaboration Zone is the networking focus of the show. There will be around 80 companies, government bodies, charities and other organisations exhibiting in this area alone, ensuring a wealth of opportunities to share and catch up with new developments.

The Drone Zone is the area to meet the suppliers of the latest kit, and learn at the Drone Zone seminars. As well as showcasing drone suppliers, the new Drone Zone will bring together industry specialists and end-users who will be making presentations on UAV technology and sharing their experiences with delegates.

The programme includes a presentation on risk management for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) and the factors affecting RPAS operational safety in both civil airspace and commercial space. Other sessions will cover privacy, security implications and legislation. Elsewhere, water rescue demonstrations are planned for the Pendigo Lake, adjacent to the outdoor exhibition area outside Hall 5.

Home Safety 2016
This is a new event within the Emergency Services Show looking at new products on the market and the approaches being taken by emergency services to help people live safely in their homes. For the fire and rescue service, the move from response to prevention is nothing new, but one area of safety in the home that fire and rescue services have looked at is the hazards to older people around slips, trips and falls.

The impact on an older person of a fall in the home can be substantial and puts pressure on ambulance and other health services, which are already experiencing increasing levels of demand. Anything fire and rescue service staff can do to prevent falls happening in the first place is a real benefit.

Fire and rescue services are increasingly working with the NHS through Clinical Commissioning Groups. This partnership working has in part led to the development of the concept of the Safe and Well visit. Much of the work between fire and health is underpinned by data. One new dataset available to fire and rescue services is Exeter Data. The Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) and NHS England have an information sharing agreement that means that all fire and rescue services can now identify people over 65 who are registered with a GP.

The Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing recently published a case study setting out Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s ‘Innovative use of the Exeter Health Data’. It looks at how an organisation can deal with a large quantity of data – in the case of Cheshire, this amounted to 206,000 records. Through a process of strategic intelligence analysis, Cheshire was able to create its own categories of risk using four indices: personal risk, geo‑demographic risk, lone person risk and response risk. As a result it was able to hone in on the data and get that large dataset down to lists closer to 20,000.

Trauma Care Training
This year’s Emergency Services Show will feature a new CPD-accredited Trauma Care Training & Education Zone. Comprising CPD skills stations for individuals to compete at, and a training suite where teams take part to perform a primary survey under pressure, the interactive zone is open to anyone involved in pre-hospital care, with any skill level. Free to attend CPD skills stations will cover: airway management and ventilation; catastrophic haemorrhage control, explaining how to control a full spectrum of bleeding; splinting and immobilisation, which will take place in a simulated car, looking at pelvic stabilisation; and burns, examining a wide variety of dressings and techniques to address a full spectrum of burns.

Each skills station will provide the opportunity to learn and get hands-on with the latest techniques, products and technology. Registration is for all four skills stations which will be completed in a circuit, lasting 20 minutes on average.

Over the two days of the show, teams will compete for prizes in the inaugural Trauma Care Skills Challenge. The scenario-based test will take place in a fully immersive suite featuring world-leading technology with highly realistic, high-fidelity manikins and role models, and will be streamed live to visitors on screens outside the suite.

To enter a team for the challenge, delegates must pre-register by 24 July 2016. Successful applicants will be provided with learning materials which they can add to their CPDme portfolios and use to prepare for the potential scenarios in the challenge.

College of Paramedics
The free 30‑minute CPD workshops will be delivered from the expanded College of Paramedics area on stand J51, where CPD certificates will be issued to all those attending.

Workshops cover: Emergency Childbirth – Breech Birth; Decisions in Trauma Care within the Pre-Hospital Environment; What’s new in Sepsis?; Trauma in Pregnancy; Positive Mental Health; Emergency Childbirth: Antepartum haemorrhage; Decisions in Trauma Care within the Pre-Hospital Environment; and The hidden killer – sepsis in obstetrics.

Find a new product
Over 450 exhibiting companies and organisations will be showcasing the latest solutions in communications, emergency medical care, protective clothing and uniforms, training and outsourcing.

Companies exhibiting vehicles and vehicle equipment for the ambulance sector will include Baus, O+H, Terberg DTS, Cartwright, Volvo, Allied Fleet, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Ferno.

New exhibitors include Bariquins, which will be exhibiting its bariatric training mannequins for the first time in the UK, and Defib Store which manufactures outdoor defibrillator cabinets and works closely with the ambulance services. Private ambulance company Salop Medical Services will also be exhibiting for the first time.

Around the show there will be valuable opportunities to network with other blue and amber light services, which are increasingly working together in emergency situations. Over over 80 secondary responders, voluntary sector partners and NGOs will feature in The Collaboration Zone. Key associations including BASICS, the Independent Ambulance Association, Association of Air Ambulances and Ambulance Services Institute will all be represented.

Further Information
www.emergencyuk.com