SC220333 - Mass Fatalities Contingency Support

Description

Kent County Council (the Council) is the largest local authority in England covering an area of 3,500 square kilometres. It has an annual expenditure of over £1bn on goods and services and a population of 1.6m. The Council provides a wide range of personal and strategic services on behalf of its residents, operating in partnership with the NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, 12 district councils, and 289 parish/town councils. The Council consists of four directorates: • Adult Social Core and Health • Children, Young People and Education • Growth, Environment and Transport • Strategic and Corporate Services This service is being commissioned on behalf of the Growth, Environment and Transport directorate. 1.1 Background As a category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, KCC has a duty to plan and prepare for emergencies. KCC also has a duty, under the Coroners and Justice Act, to provide resources to facilitate the performance by coroners of their duties to investigate deaths which occur in certain circumstances, including the identification of the deceased. Kent County Council is a core member of the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) and chairs the KRF Mass Fatalities Group. The Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) is a partnership of organisations and agencies who work together to ensure a coordinated response to emergencies that could have a significant impact on communities. Kent County Council procures and holds this contract on behalf of the Kent Resilience Forum. A Mass Fatality incident is defined as being an incident where one or more of the following key elements are present: • there are multiple deceased (actual or potential); • the nature of the incident is likely to make identification of the deceased difficult; • some or many of the deceased are lying in difficult to access locations; • there are fragmented human remains; • the incident was as a result of terrorist or criminal activity; • hazards are present at the scene, for example, asbestos, chemicals, radiological debris, that need to be considered before recovering the deceased, property and evidence; • mortuary capacity is, or may become, exceeded or overwhelmed. Mass Fatality Contingency Support may be required in the case of a Mass Fatality incident, where existing Kent Resilience Forum partner resource and mortuary cannot meet the required response. Keywords: Temporary Mortuary, Mass Fatality