Manchester Fire Service 'paralysed by indecision' on night of Arena bombing
Fire crews were "paralysed by indecision" on the night of the Manchester Arena bombing - but are now trained and equipped to respond to a terror attack, a chief fire officer has said.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) was heavily criticised for taking for more than two hours to get to the scene of the tragedy in 2017.
Giving evidence at a hearing to monitor recommendations made following the public inquiry into the attack, Fire Chief Dave Russel admitted the people of Greater Manchester had been let down when they had needed them the most.
Mr Russel, who was not in charge at the time of the attack, described the service's response as "wholly inadequate and totally ineffective".
A total of 22 people were killed when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his homemade device at the Arena on 22 May 2017.
The hearing heard how firefighters lost confidence in their commanders because of their indecision and failure to take control on the night of the attack.
Mr Russel said there is now a more open and tolerant culture towards mistakes at the fire service and it is turning GMFRS into a “frontline workforce”.
He told the hearing: “The indecision paralysed GMFRS that night and there was undoubtedly a lack of grip exercised by commanders.
“We are in a significantly better and improved position as a fire and rescue service but as I say, going forward, our work will never be done in respect of this.”
Chairman Sir John Saunders told the Manchester Arena Inquiry that firefighters had felt shame at not being able to join in or do something constructive on the night of the terrorist attack.
When asked if the trust had been restored between firefighters and their commanders, Mr Russel told the hearing: “I’ve invested hundreds of hours talking to firefighters and many years after the arena attack the pain was visibly etched on their faces in respect of their inability to respond that night.
“I think repairing trust sits with me as the head of the organisation and we have undoubtedly created a much more inclusive culture within Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, a culture which is more open and tolerant to mistakes and in many ways, I genuinely believe that is translating into a frontline workforce.”
The fire commander also said body worn cameras and digital voice recorders are being trialled by the force to help capture commanders’ decisions.
The hearing also heard how all frontline police officers will receive advanced training by April 2025 which will help officers learn life-saving techniques such as how to stop catastrophic bleeding and the management of an airway.
Greater Manchester Police was not providing the recommended hours of first aid training at the time of the arena attack, the inquiry heard in January 2022.
Sir John said: “That will have widespread implications presumably because we’re not just talking about things like the arena bombing.
"We’re talking about police being first on the scene of a road accident and lots of other emergencies.”
Assistant chief constable Iain Raphael, director of public safety and risk at the College of Policing, confirmed: “We’ve increased the training times to allow that go on, which again will add value as well.”
The NHS has also developed a new 10-second triage (TST) tool that will help police officers or fire fighters at major incidents give urgent medical care, the inquiry heard.
The tool helps people to provide life-saving interventions such as controlling severe bleeding or opening an airway, according to the NHS website.
Stephen Groves, director of NHS Resilience (National) for NHS England told the hearing: “It’s a simple tool that any member of the public and certainly first responders will be able to use.”
He added: “We’ve actually undertaken a number of field exercises using TST and it was proven to be of significant benefit in those exercises.”