Last month’s Emergency Services Show was the biggest in its 10-year history and provided a fascinating insight to the UK’s fast-evolving emergency services industry. The move to the larger Hall 5 at the NEC enabled the organisers to offer more free learning and networking opportunities than ever before, with over 80 free seminar sessions, numerous CPD workshops and skills stations, live demonstrations and water rescue displays on the Pendigo Lake directly outside the exhibition hall.
A record number of 6433 visitors were attracted which included a 45 percent increase in overseas visitors. The event broke new ground with features dedicated to drones and ICT innovation, and a new ‘show within a show’, which showcased the work of the fire and rescue services in the areas of health, wellbeing and prevention for the first time. Supported by the Fire Kills campaign and Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA), Home Safety 2016 comprised a free two-day seminar programme and a dedicated exhibition showcasing specialist equipment for the safe home.
Successful partnerships between the emergency services and other agencies were showcased within the seminar programmes and on the exhibition stands. In the Learning Zone (curated and inspired by JESIP and the National Operational Guidance Programme) senior figures from the fire, police and ambulance services shared their experiences of co-responding to incidents including the Bosley Mill fire, Christmas 2015 floods and Shoreham air crash. Meanwhile at the entrance to the show, Excelerate handed over a joint command unit to Northamptonshire Police and Fire and Rescue Service. With the Government’s drive towards greater collaboration and sharing of resources across the emergency services, this new joint command unit is at the forefront of this transition.
In the ICT Innovation Theatre, the session on the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) presented by the Home Office, Motorola and EE attracted a great deal of interest. ESMCP is the programme to replace Airwave and provide integrated critical voice and broadband data services for the three emergency services.
The College of Paramedics area was expanded this year enabling over 700 people to attend the CPD sessions on the first day alone. Elsewhere the new Trauma Care & Education Zone offered further CPD opportunities through four skills stations covering airway management, haemorrhage control, splinting and immobilisation and burns. Physio Control’s own Learning Centre also proved very popular.
David Brown, Event Director for The Emergency Services Show, said, “The Emergency Services Show represents the UK’s largest multi-agency gathering, and it continues to grow. This year’s event perfectly captured the spirit of collaboration between the emergency services and the vital role played by new technologies. We were delighted with the way in which our new features and exhibitors were received and are grateful for the support of the many organisations and sponsors who have helped us to ensure the show evolves each year. We are already brimming with ideas of how we can further build on this for next year’s event.”
The Emergency Services Show will return to Hall 5 at the NEC from 20-21 September 2017. Entry to the exhibition and seminars and parking will continue to be free of charge.
More details of the 2017 event will be published on www.emergencyuk.com
