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Notifying colleagues of major incidents through Trust mobiles

January 17, 2020

We recently carried out a test SMS to all registered mobiles for our major incident notification. Unfortunately, less than 10 per cent of registered devices responded.

If we are involved in the response to a major incident we need to notify our colleagues, in particularly our clinical colleagues. The Manchester and London attacks were successfully managed, in part, because they were able to mobilise large numbers of consultants and we must ensure we can do the same.

Your clinical group may have a WhatsApp group or similar system that allows you to contact all colleagues rapidly. If you don’t have one please consider creating one, particularly if you are likely to be in a speciality involved in the response: ED, any surgical speciality, obstetrics, paediatrics, anaesthesia, haematology, medicine and radiology.

We also have the ability to send 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.

What you need to do to get SMS messages:

  1. Create a contact in your address book for the following number: 07860017535. Name it as “SWB MI”, or something similar, so you immediately know the message is important and not spam or phishing
  2. If you have a Trust mobile, next time you receive a test message from this number please follow the instructions and reply so we can ensure messages are reaching you
  3. If you receive a real major incident alert respond to the SMS and then 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 on the text message
  2. Respond to the number with the details asked of you, this allows us to monitor the inbox and staffing levels.

There are four types of messages you will receive:

  • Major incident standby: This is when an incident is emerging and we may need to stand the hospital up to react to a Major Incident.  This will usually be a fact finding message to see how long it would take you to attend either City Hospital or Sandwell Hospital.
  • Major incident declared: This is when a major incident has been declared and we are calling for staff 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 and if we have a list of staff names who are making their way to either hospital we can allocate staffing appropriately.
  • Major incident stood down: This is when a Major Incident Response is no longer required and we will inform our staff that the Major Incident has been stood down, and normal working patterns will resume.
  • Major incident test: This is a test message to ensure that you are receiving them, please respond with what has been asked in the message. This should occur twice a year.