Abstract Background
In March 2018 two Russian Nationals were found poisoned in Salisbury and a major incident was declared. In June 2018, two Amesbury residents were taken ill, leading to one fatality. Both incidents required a multi-agency response. The local authority has statutory responsibility to protect the health of its population.
Results
LA led on the response to support those directly and indirectly affected by the incident, including the welfare of our own staff and wider workforce. We needed to consider the lasting impact on the economy and reputation of Salisbury and Amesbury and the resilience of the communities that lived there during and post incident. We had to support the of the communities from becoming the focus of local, national and international media attention. The LA had become the liaison and conduit between national teams and experts and the communities affected and a key contact for residents ‘on the ground'.
Conclusion
The Strength of the local partnerships are key. Textbook procedures are helpful, but you do have to tailor the response. There were Two investigations ongoing (crime / public health). To trying and establish the extent of the public health risk is hugely complex and operating at Secret level across the Local Resilience Forum was challenging. As a public health community, we needed to become comfortable with living with uncertainty and making decision in those scenarios. Finally, we needed to recognise that we don't train for the recovery phase, but you can plan to make the phase effective. External funding details N/A