The UK government has responded to the latest terrorist attack in Reading by calling on schools and Hospitals to be vigilant. They have also republished a 2017 guideline on how to prepare and respond to a terrorist attack.
The UK is slowly coming back to life, after months of battling the coronavirus pandemic. The tough restrictions that had been put in place are slowly being relaxed and institutions are now starting to reopen.
A terrorist attack on June 20th
However, the dangers that existed pre-coronavirus are still lurking in the background, as was evident on June 20th, at 7 PM in Forbury Gardens in Reading, when a terrorist launched an attack on people using a knife, resulting in deaths of three people, James Furlong, 36, and his friends David Wails and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett.
Khairi Saadallah, 25, the lone attacker in the terrorist attack was arrested and charged with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.
2017 Tactical book on terrorism
The government has now republished a 2017 tactical guide book on how to prepare and respond to ‘marauding terrorist attacks’ like the one carried out on June 20th. They have also outlined that schools and hospitals should be alert and prepared for such attacks, once the economy fully reopened.
Speaking to the media, Home Secretary Priti Patel, asked schools and hospitals to be prepared for the rise in lone wolf terrorist attacks, which she claimed has been on the rise. She said measures should be taken to ensure that these institutions are prepared to handle these attacks. She also added that as many locations are reopened, security should be beefed up to ensure the safety of the UK citizens.
The guide describes to users how to handle low sophisticated attacks, such as the one carried out by Saadallah. It also goes into detail on how to handle other attacks such as attacks by cars and attacks by gun. The report also notes that, before police are able to respond to the situation, these attacks mostly leads to casualties, hence response time should be good.
Need for rehearsing a terrorist attack
The advice goes on to say that the only way to ensure the safety and preparedness of the attacks is by rehearsing. This will ensure all systems are ready, in case such an attack is carried out in schools or hospitals, people can be able to respond appropriately if they have rehearsed on how to handle such emergencies.
The report also highlights some tactical advice on how to announce that you are under attack. For instance, the reprt makes it clear that while announcing about a shooting, using the word firearm to describe is not appropriate in an emergency as people might confuse people who might think one is talking about a fire alarm.
Featured image by Pixabay
