“LOCAL RISK REDUCTION AND MULTI –AGENCY EMERGENCY RESPONSES IN THE TYNE AND WEAR”

Speakers:

Chris Lowther, Chief Fire Officer, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service

Alan Robson, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service

Date: Friday, 27th October, 2017

Time: 11:00-12:00

Venue: THINKlab, Maxwell Building, the University of Salford, M5 4WT

THINKlab is pleased to welcome Chris Lowther, to inaugurate its first Annual Seminar Series on Local Risk, Response and Resilience Planning 2017/2018 and deliver a special lecture to mark World Disaster Day 2017.

Chris has an impressive and varied background in training, community safety and operations and has taken a lead role in a number of national resilience programmes. Prior to his appointment to Chief Fire Officer in February 2017, taking up post in April 2017, Chris has held a number of roles within the fire service, including Station Officer for community safety, during which time he was instrumental in introducing home safety checks which have had a significant impact in reducing fires in the home. He sits on the Operations Coordination Committee (OCC); the lead body for Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and was the project executive for the national guidance work on transport. He has led on the introduction of Targeted Response Vehicles (TRVs), day crewing close-call shift patterns, Cobra Coldcut Technology and more efficient methods of staffing appliances whilst facilitating first-class firefighter and emergency response training.

Alan, a Mechanical Engineer, began his fire and rescue service career in 1989. Prior to taking up the post of ACO, Alan was Area Manager for community safety, with responsibility for the control room, operations & resilience, fire safety and prevention & education. This included oversight of our specialist national operational functions - swiftwater rescue (SWR), urban search and rescue (USAR), detection, identification & monitoring (DIM) and high volume pump (HVP) – as well as activities such as our fire cadets and Prince’s Trust programme. He has contributed to the development of operational policy and procedures, organisational reviews and preparation for hosting large events including the recent Olympic and Rugby World Cup events. He is also the current president of the Northern Branch of the Institute of Fire Engineers.

During the inauguration lecture Chris and Alan share their experience, challenges and opportunities on future emergency service delivery through multi agency collaboration.

For further information please contact Carla Kocsis THINKlab, Facilities Manager c.kocsis@salford.ac.uk or 0161 295 6579.