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WHAT does 2010 have in store for Lancashire - perhaps more floods, snow, gas
explosions, natural disaster or another pandemic? CHRIS VISSER speaks to the
man poised to leap into action at the first sign of a crisis
S
EVERE floods,
swine flu outbreaks,
raging fires, terror-
ist attacks and nu-
clear contamination...the
list is endless.
Every conceivable emer-
gency is possible...and
Lancashire has to be
ready.
Already this decade emer-
gency planners have dealt
with the foot and mouth
disease outbreak in 2001,
the Morecambe Bay cock-
le picking tragedy in 2004,
the stranded Riverdance
ferry near Blackpool in
2008 and the Rossendale
gas explosion of 2008 – to
name a few such incidents.
And Bernard Kershaw has
led his 12-strong emer-
gency planning team at the
county council’s Red Rose
Hub in Fulwood through
most of these putting in
practice sophisticated
plans to ease their worst
“human effects”.
They help the 999 crews
deal with the aftermath of
the crisis, whatever it may
be.
He says it is about people
doing “ordinary tasks in
extraordinary circum-
stances” and always feels
“a confidence when the
call comes through”.
Bernard, previously a boss
at Lancashire Constabu-
lary before joining the
council in 2002, says this
includes helping people
rapidly leave their homes,
giving out vital details to
the media and assisting the
vulnerable such as the eld-
erly or disabled who may
need access to gas, elec-
tricity and vital medica-
tion.
Bernard’s team has put to-
gether around 30 plans to
tackle a series of
issues regularly
tested after
months of in-
tense planning.
He says: “When
planning, you
can generally
look at the areas
which would be
vulnerable.
“We have major
rivers in the
county such as
the Lune and
the Ribble so
there’s a greater chance of
flooding there and if you move
to industrial areas, the conse-
quences of fire become quite
important such as at the Red
Scar estate where there was a
major fire in 2007.
“You will get a range of issues
and plan on how that will im-
pact on infrastructure.
“By taking a broad brush ap-
proach, you can work out what
Emergency
is what and a contingency
plan.”
He says a major part of that
process is keeping up-to-date
records of the plans and con-
tacts such as councils, emer-
gency services, health workers
and voluntary groups including
the Red Cross and Samaritans.
These can all provide specialist
support in the event of Lan-
cashire entering meltdown.
service
PLANNING FOR THE WORST: Lancashire County Council’s Bernard
emergency planning officer Bernard Kershaw hard at work. wrong cash notes could be-
Inset, the aftermath of the Greyrigg train crash, when the
emergency planning team’s work swung into action
Any emergency could involve
up to 60 separate agencies – all out at around 10.30am on the
trying to find people shelter
such as at a school or leisure
centre or to help get their
power back on.
Bernard says a “good example
of when a plan worked” was
after a massive gas explosion in fast response before a major
Rawtenstall in December 2008 meeting took place in Burnley.
which caused a major fire and
cutting gas and electricity sup- time of the meeting but its ef- dinary circumstances.”
plies to 30,000 homes. It broke and broadband could lead to
22nd with the county’s emer-
gency planning duty officer
being informed minutes later.
Bernard explains how the team He added: “All of our plans
worked with the police during
phone discussions to forge a
Luckily, the fire was out by the their ordinary tasks in extraor-
Evening Post, Friday, January 1, 2010 19
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Evening Post
LANCASHIRE
lep.co.uk WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2009 42p
fects had only just begun. EXCLUSIVE: Why Shaw let boss go INSIDE
See Back Page
Alan
Irvine:
He explains: “It was agreed The last
interview
the county council would
Page 39
Who next in
hot seat?
look at the wider conse- Page 38
WHAT THE
quences of people without FANS SAY Page 37
and go online at lep.co.uk
power and gas and we iden-
tified vulnerable residents GONE: PNE boss
Alan Irvine was
such as elderly and infirm.
sacked yesterday
“We used the media to put DEEP SHOCK
Fans’ anger as popular boss is sacked by North End
out messages for people to PRESTON North End by Dave Seddon
started their search for a dave.seddon@lep.co.uk
new manager today after
revealed he had met with the club’s
majority shareholders, who heavily
finance the club, ahead of the
decision – one he described as
Irvine’s exit has shocked Preston
fans, with the Scot himself
unaware his job was on the line until
meeting Shaw yesterday lunchtime.
be good neighbours and
sacking Alan Irvine. the Deepdale hotseat, but a run ‘horrible’ to make. Assistant manager Rob Kelly has
of just two wins in 14 games cost But he felt action was needed to been placed in temporary charge of
The 51-year-old was dismissed Irvine his job. prevent North End sliding further team affairs, but a new boss is
yesterday following 25 months in PNE chairman Derek Shaw down the Championship table. expected to be in place soon.
knock on doors and help.
“We had county services Nos 2-4: PNE crisis
and the primary care trust Preston M62 crash
visit these people and victims named
helped them through the in-
cident.” SHAW: WHY IRVINE HAD
Bernard also speaks of how
his team helped Cumbria TO GO
deal with the effects of the
Grayrigg train crash in 2007 PNE LATEST: Ferguson is
when one person died and in the frame - Shaw
30 were seriously injured.
Hospitals in Preston and Irvine in dark as players
Lancaster were used to deal react to sacking
with the casualties and their
families. Takeaway owner fined
The team was also involved over infestation
in tackling the evacuation of
the crew on the Riverdance
ferry which was left strand- Also in
ed in Morecambe in 2008
and was involved in arrang- day2day
ing the first dismantling of a
vessel on UK coastline away TODAY ’S
from the sea.
It also included finding an
CHOICE
interpreter at short notice to
help translate messages to
and from the Polish crew.
And he was also among the
first in the world to hear of
the Chinese cockle picking
tragedy after 23 workers
drowned off Warton Sands
in Morecambe Bay in Feb-
ruary 2004.
He explains: “You feel a At-a-glance
confidence when the call
comes through that you are
able to respond.
TV guide
“I got the call at 3.30am and PAGE 22
immediately called the chief
executive of the county
council and Lancaster City
Council.”
More recently, the service
was on standby for the re-
cent Cumbria flooding but
was never called into action.
Looking to the future, there
are concerns over how the
word “emergency” will be
interpreted as we progress
through the 21st century. Puzzles
says that a faulty
ATM machine giving out
& Stars
come an “emergency” as it with Russell
affects people’s needs while Grant
the growth of technology
emergencies never previously
dreamed of.
But he says residents should PAGE 23
not be alarmed.
can be modified if we get a
worst case scenario.
“There’s a catchy phrase which
is it will be about people doing
just a click away
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