Sir Ken Knight, Commissioner for the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority

DomesticPreparedness met with Sir Ken Knight, Commissioner for the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority. London’s – and soon the United Kingdom’s – senior first responder discusses his approach to multi-agency incident-management and response operations in light of the 7/7 2005 terrorist attack, the United Kingdom’s approach to resilience, and the several ways in which the U.K. response operations differ from those mandated by the U.S. National Incident Management System (NIMS). London’s 7/7 incident commander discusses how he handled the multi-agency response to the U.K.’s first suicide bomber attack and its impact on the city’s, and nation’s, transportation and communications infrastructure. How contemporary terrorist incidents differ from those London experienced in the 1980s – e.g., the lack of warning time today. The U.K. emergency services’ planning, preparing, and response partnership with the business community, local authorities, and the voluntary sector. Lessons learned through sharing with France and the United States. How the United Kingdom is interpreting resilience with respect to resource allocations. How resilience planning goes beyond preparedness for terrorist incidents to the planning required for a pandemic. How London handles command and control of several simultaneous incidents; its emphasis on strategic overview in its three-tiered response mechanism for multi-agency management – gold for the strategic planning level, silver for the joint-services level, and bronze for command at the local tactical level. Lessons Learned from London’s 7/7 Terrorist Attack of 2005The London Fire Brigade’s Response Partnerships TodayResilience in the United KingdomHow U.K. Incident Management Differs from the U.S. NIMS Approach