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Heartbeat: Do you know how to respond to a major incident message?

March 26, 2020

We’ve all heard of a major incident taking place at one time or another. News of earthquakes or wildfires is not uncommon. If a tragedy such as a rail disaster or flood took place in our region we’d need to be prepared for it.

We recently carried out a test SMS to all registered mobiles and registered personal mobiles for consultants, for our major incident planning. Unfortunately, less than 10 per cent of registered devices responded. Speaking to Heartbeat a colleague said that she thought the message was a “hoax”.

It’s important if you receive a major incident (MI) message that you respond. We must know who will be on our sites in the event of an emergency. It also helps us effectively plan for how we’ll deal with any potential threats.

Philip Stirling, Emergency Planning Officer emphasised the importance of these messages saying: “If we are involved in the response to a major incident we need to notify our colleagues, in particular, our clinical colleagues. The Manchester and London attacks were successfully managed in part because they were able to mobilise large numbers of consultants. We must ensure we can do the same.”

So, how can you prepare?

Set up a WhatsApp group

Your clinical group may have a WhatsApp group or similar system that allows you to contact colleagues rapidly. If you don’t have one, please consider creating one, particularly if you work in a speciality that will likely be involved in responding to an incident. This includes areas like ED, any surgical speciality, obstetrics, paediatrics, anaesthesia, haematology, medicine and radiology.

Follow instructions sent via SMS messages to mobile phones

In the event of a major incident, SMS messages will be sent to all Trust mobiles and individuals who have registered their phone for the service.

This is what you need to do to get SMS messages:

  1. Create a contact in your address book for the following number: 07860 017535. Name it as ‘SWB MI’, or something similar, so you immediately know the message is not spam.
  2. If you have a Trust mobile, next time you receive a text message from this number please follow the instructions and reply
  3. Once you’ve responded to the SMS, follow the information in your speciality action card in the major incident (MI) plan. The action cards are currently being updated.

When you receive a test text message:

  1. Follow the instructions in the text message
  2. Respond to the number with the details asked of you. This allows us to monitor staffing levels.

There are four types of messages you may receive:

  • Major incident test: This is a test message to ensure that you are receiving messages. Please respond with what has been asked of you in the message. This should occur twice a year.
  • Major incident standby: This is when an incident is emerging and we may need you to be ready to react to a major incident. This will usually be a fact-finding message to see get to City or Sandwell Hospital.
  • Major incident declared: This means we are asking colleagues to return to active duty. The message will ask you to confirm your name, job role, what site you will be attending and how long it will take you to arrive. This information is vital as there may be road closures. If we have a list of colleagues making their way to either hospital we can allocate staff appropriately.
  • Major incident stood down: We will inform colleagues that the major incident has been stood down and normal working patterns will resume.