Manchester Arena Bombing Inquiry

Caporegime
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Anyone else following the news on this? Absolutely appalling response from the emergency services.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-54071621

"Two minutes after the explosion, PC Bullough radioed through, saying "it's definitely a bomb - people are injured - at least 20 casualties".

She then "made the first of a number of requests for ambulances".

The inquiry was told that 24 minutes later another officer radioed to control, saying "you're going to hate me - where's our ambulances please?".
Control replied, saying "we don't know. We're calling them again"."

Unbelievable. How many of those that died could have been saved with more prompt treatment?
 
Soldato
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Read that just now. Holy cow do some of the senior emergency responders have a lot to answer for.

I read an interview with a survivor recently that said it felt like they were waiting hours for help..i thought it was just a turn of phrase but it turns out they were actually waiting that long.

What the actual ****!

And how can they prepare for an attack so much at the very location and get it all so wrong on the night. Unbelievable.

Already starting to sound like this enquiry is going to make a few people resign from their posts out of pure shame.
 
Underboss
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Wasn't it a common tactic during the 'troubles' to set off a bomb, await the emergency response and then detonate a secondary bomb to cause even more casualties.

Not saying that the response was correct but if their werr reports of more than one device it would at least explain some of the actions taken.

Horrible situation for everyone involved though, being first on scene and then gold/silver commander for that would be hellish.
 
Capodecina
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I was under the impression the emergency services were held back in fear of other bombs going off there or in the area.
Possibly quite true but very depressing nonetheless.

I can't understand why the inquiry is being held in semi-secrecy, I'm not sure whether it is a consequence of Covid-19 or an attempt to protect the "intelligence" services :confused:
 
Caporegime
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This sounds more like general confusion, and dare I say it incompetence or at least lack of awareness of where their ambulances are, rather than any clever intentionally delayed arrival.

Yeah, I can't see anything to suggest they were intentionally delayed, especially considering other first responders were there within 2 minutes.
 
Associate
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One the most disappointing things was a member of the public being 'fobbed off' when reporting the bomber as suspicious, because he looked out of place with a huge backpack. That was a key opportunity to stop the tragedy.

It boils down to poorly trained staff, incompetent management, poor procedures, lack of powers, the list goes on. Almost like these attendents are window dressing & nothing more when not backed up by processes to:

1. Confront
2. Secure
3. Search
4. Detain
5. Release

I guess we have laws that make this difficult to enforce in a practical, effective maner & will probably trigger accusations from the public (racial profilling comes to mind) when the vast majority are innocent.

How many more police and/or expense contractors would be required to make this workable, to actually stop a bomber from slipping through into the event, into huge crowds & who pays for it?
Cheeper to have some uni lad on mimimum wage 'radio in' any reports from members of the public, then hope for the best.
 
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Capodecina
Soldato
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. . .
It boils down to poorly trained staff, incompetent management, poor procedures, lack of powers, the list goes on.
. . .
It is in the nature of people to "learn from their mistakes". Sadly they often fail to do so, complacency sets in and cost cutting / profit reigns supreme :(
 
Soldato
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Possibly quite true but very depressing nonetheless.

I can't understand why the inquiry is being held in semi-secrecy, I'm not sure whether it is a consequence of Covid-19 or an attempt to protect the "intelligence" services :confused:

Oh indeed it does not make the situation any less.

But I would have thought this would be normal. Of bombs started going off all across Manchester they would need to triage.

I also think after all this it will be someone low down the chain of command that will be thrown under the bus.
 
Soldato
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3,969
One the most disappointing things was a member of the public being 'fobbed off' when reporting the bomber as suspicious, because he looked out of place with a huge backpack. That was a key opportunity to stop the tragedy.

It boils down to poorly trained staff, incompetent management, poor procedures, lack of powers, the list goes on. Almost like these attendents are window dressing & nothing more when not backed up by processes to:

1. Confront
2. Secure
3. Search
4. Detain
5. Release

I guess we have laws that make this difficult to enforce in a practical, effective maner & will probably trigger accusations from the public (racial profilling comes to mind) when the vast majority are innocent.

There are a few on here that would have fobbed them off too, and probably called them racist for even thinking such a thing.
 
Soldato
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I thought this was the case also.

In fact an earlier BBC article quoted exactly this. It took a senior member of the police force to override. Sorry i cant find the link.

It's the same after every mass Terror attack - In the post 7/7 inquiry the "higher up's" of the Ambulance and police services were raked over the coals over the same "we'll hold medics back in case there's secondary devices" and then vowed to "learn lessons" yet even in the post '17 London Bridge attacks 10 years later, where the police shot all 3 dead within 10 minutes, medics were still held back for hours despite all the "lessons learned" in 7/7, so it's no surprise that the same lack of accountability & lack of ownership "excuse" was trotted out yet again in Manchester by senior officers who are unfit to lead a boy scout troop never mind an emergency service.

There comes a time when "higher up's" sat in comfy offices miles from the action need to held directly accountable for their abject failures of leadership and command in these situations.

20+ years in the military including a few mass casualty events in Iraq has shown me that getting rapid medical aid is vital, even if it's a risk to do so. If a dumbass like me can figure that out why is that impossible for generations of senior management in the emergency services to understand that - sometimes you just need to take the risk to prevent further deaths.
 
Soldato
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6,590
How in the heck did only 1 show up for first 40 mins?

In the middle of manchester? you'd think they could at least rally a whole bunch from the surrounding area.....
 
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Soldato
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In the middle of manchester? you'd think they could at least rally a whole bunch from the surrounding area.....

This could easily be achieved, but was probably restricted for reasons below.

I was under the impression the emergency services were held back in fear of other bombs going off there or in the area.

I'm not 100% on the other services, but fire crews from other stations were moved to stations near to the arena and held for some time before being released on active duty.
 
Soldato
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So you've bolded the part that specifically talks about a huge backpack and then thrown in something about racism even though no one, apart from you, has raised this?

/golf clap
Errrr..... I'm pretty sure racial profilling is mentioned in the post I quoted, but clap away.
 
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