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Bombing report scathing on rescue

The rescue operation after the July 7 terrorist bombings in London was hampered by poor communication, slow response times, a failure to deal effectively with the wounded and a lack of essential equipment, a report released on Monday said.

While praising the emergency services for their efforts, the report, issued by the July 7 Review Committee of the London Assembly, was scathing in its criticism of the overall rescue operation. Last year's bombings, on three subway lines and a bus, killed 56 people, including the four bombers, and wounded hundreds.

In one particularly vivid example, the report described an ambulance service that was so overwhelmed by all the casualties that it ran out of stretchers and other supplies; one paramedic said he had to go into a department store to get extra bandages.

Perhaps most seriously, staff from the police, fire and ambulance services used different radio systems, leaving them unable to coordinate their response, the report found. In addition, lack of proper equipment meant that rescuers above ground were unable to communicate with rescuers underground. Some rescuers relied on the cellphone network, which was intermittently out of commission.

"This can no longer remain in the `too hard to do' tray," said Richard Barnes, a Conservative member of the London Assembly and the chairman of the panel.

"In the 21st century, in one of the most sophisticated and technologically aware cities in the world, it is unacceptable for the emergency services to rely upon `runners' to gain and exchange information," he said.

While praising the "incredible acts of bravery" by many rescuers, Phil Woolas, chairman of the London Resilience Partnership, which represents the emergency services, said the various agencies were taking the report's criticisms to heart.

"The sheer scale and unique nature of events on July 7 mean that naturally there will be lessons to learn about our response," he said. "Some issues have already been recognized and acted upon, such as communications systems and problems with radios underground."

Transport for London, which manages the subways, said it had invested ?2 billion (US$3.7 billion) in a new radio network to be put in place over the next two years.

Chronicling a patchy and often chaotic response to the confusing reports of multiple bombings across the city, the report recommended that the emergency services better coordinate their operations to respond more quickly to such attacks.

It said rescue protocols should be changed so that if one of the emergency services declared a major attack, the others would automatically follow suit.

The report criticized what it said was a "complete absence of planning" in dealing with witnesses and the walking wounded. Officials failed fully document, interview and account for hundreds of witnesses and injured bystanders.
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