Update from resilience / special operations

In what will be a regular feature on the new Need to Know site, the Trust’s resilience and special operations team bring you an update on the latest news from their area of the organisation: 

• The national Fire Service strikes which have taken place this month have had minimal impact on the Trust, with a similar picture across the UK. The Trust is well prepared in the event of more strikes being held.
• The FIFA World Cup is taking place from 12^th June – 13^th July in Brazil and England will be potentially involved in seven matches during this period. EEAST will provide a command and STET to ensure extra resources in the control rooms and emergency ambulance crews to meet the expected increase in 999 demand.
• The Tour de France cycle race crosses our region on Monday 7^th July, starting in Cambridge and moving through Saffron Walden, Braintree, Chelmsford and Epping, before concluding in central London. The crowd numbers lining the route may well be up to 1 million with world-wide television audiences. The Trust will bring in a command control infrastructure and will deploy additional front line ambulances and specialist resilience and Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) assets.
• During the last quarter (January – March) HART have been deployed to 321 specific calls and HART cars have attended 636 incidents as part of the core Trust response to patients.