News, richard.hook@pavpub.com, 1 May 2014

sirkenGloucester Fire and Rescue Service has joined forces with charity Operation Florian to stage its first seminar focussing on international extreme weather planning in September.

The symposium will bring together esteemed experts from across the globe to examine and debate the response to recent nationwide flooding and other examples international extreme weather events. Panelists including Sir Ken Knight (pictured) will also consider how emergency services, planners, healthcare professionals and local authorities can build best practice responses for each possible outcome.

Incidents caused by extreme weather challenge and test operational processes, requiring significant resources during and after the weather event. Extreme weather events are becoming more common and emergency responders must plan to better deal with these emergencies.

Speaking at yesterday's Ambition 2014 Conference, Public Health England's principal climate change scientist Professor John Thornes outlined the extent of the problem by revealing that ambulance response times drop by 1% per oC at above 20 and by 1.5% below 2.

Further reading: Extreme weathers have extreme impact on ART, PHE scientist says 

The two day conference on 9th and 10th September 2014 will be held at Gloucestershire’s interactive safety education centre, the SkillZONE.

Other speakers include:
- Russell Sandbach (Crew Member, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race)
- ACFO Robert Scott (Scottish Fire and Rescue Service) who will focus on the unprecedented number of wildfires in Scotland;
- DCFO Geoff Sallis (Gloucester Fire and Rescue Service) who's talk is entitled ‘Fire alarm or false alarm’.

This unique event will bring together the most experienced and respected experts to share their experiences and provide valuable knowledge on the lessons learnt from their involvement in these extreme situations. The cost to attend the event is £175.00 per person including evening dinner. Exhibition space can be booked for £250, please contact Operation Florian on 07973 875505 or email Opflorian@aol.com. The final agenda will be shortly released.