Incidents range from simple removal of debris from a carriageway through to complex multi-agency national crises.
This section of the Network Management Manual sets out the definitions of incidents that are used throughout the remainder of the document. The Police, other emergency services and Local Authorities should have an established understanding of the term ‘major incidents’ and the term is used by Government to take powers to deal with such incidents. The term ‘critical incidents’ has also been established for those incidents that are important to a single organisation. So far as the Highways Agency, its’ stakeholders and Service Providers are concerned, the term emergency should be regarded as a generic term encompassing both critical and major incidents.
The term ‘incident’ should be regarded as the description of those occurrences that come to the attention of the Highways Agency and its’ Service Providers.
A routine incident could be anything from a break down to a lost civilian in the middle of nowhere, so long as the vehicle is NOT on the road. The only exceptions to this are those involving fire. Example of a routine incident are:
Break Down
HATO/ISU to attend scene and repair.
Empty Fuel
HATO/ISU to attend and refuel vehicle.
Lost Traveller
HATO/ISU to attend and return traveller to closest large settlement.
Abandoned Vehicles
HATO/ISU to attend and impound.
Persons Locked Out Of Vehicle
HATO/ISU to attend, pick vehicle lock and give keys to owner.
Persons Locked In Vehicle
HATO/ISU to attend, pull persons out of vehicle.
A Significant incident include breakdowns, crash involving a single wheeled vehicle or objects such as trees either partially or entirely blocking the highway (APTR). These include:
Break Down
HATO/ISU to attend scene and repair.
Empty Fuel
HATO/ISU to attend and refuel vehicle.
Single Vehicle RTC
HATO/ISU to attend scene and repair.
Lost Traveller
HATO/ISU to attend and return traveller to closest large settlement.
Abandoned Vehicles
HATO/ISU to attend and impound.
Persons Locked Out Of Vehicle
HATO/ISU to attend, pick vehicle lock and give keys to owner.
Persons Locked In Vehicle
HATO/ISU to attend, pull persons out of vehicle.
Non Removable Object in Road
Use Cones/Barriers to shut down part of the road affected.
Spike Strips on Road
Drive over spike strip(s) to remove, and repair vehicle.
A Serious incident includes crashes with two or more vehicles and/or an explosion on or near a APTR. A serious incident will often involve fatalities or serious injury so paramedics may need to be dispatched. These include:
Multi Car RTC
Two or more HATO/ISU to attend and deal with as appropriate.
Explosion(s) on an APTR
One HATO/ISU dispatched with others put on standby, clear roads until the danger is no longer present. Clean scene and reopen roads.
A Major Incident is a single event that poses imminent danger to life. Police must be informed of all major incidents. Major incidents include:
Rebel Road Blocks
Close off roads leading towards road block, send out an immediate traffic alert.
A regional major incident is a single event that poses imminent danger to life. Police must be informed of all regional major incidents. Regional Major incidents include:
Street Races, Excessive Speeding or General Civil Unrest
Total road closure stopping cars from racing through the city, send out a public alert if appropriate.
A cross regional or national major incident is much like a regional major incident, but may expand to include the whole city or a further area. Major incidents include:
Unresolvable Street Races, Excessive Speeding or General Civil Unrest
Shut down major roads in and out of city, help police setup checkpoints.
50.Cal Driving Around
Send out public alert, contact admins if in city, record if possible.
A State of National Emergency can only be declared by the O/M, Admins or the Police Commander. If the city is at level 1 and both the police and Highways Agency are unable to regain control a state of national emergency is to be declared, during this time the city will be under full lock down.
All Emergencies
Close all roads, garages and shops, help anyone out of the city that may need it.