- This section sets out guidance for the provision of health, environmental, scientific and technical advice to RPs where a major or widespread emergency has led to the establishment of multiple RPs and their associated STACs. In such a multiple location incident, similar issues requiring expert assessment and advice are likely in all the affected areas but it will not be practical for national organisations (such as PHS, SEPA, APHA, Food Standards Scotland/Food Standards Agency and Health and Safety Executive) to support multiple STACs. Hence there is a need to coordinate provision of STAC input via a primary STAC as detailed below.
- An emergency may start in one RP area resulting in a STAC being established in accordance with local arrangements and national organisations would normally be asked to support it. The emergency may then spread to involve other RP areas. Each RP would normally establish its own STAC and the potential would then exist for national organisations to be faced with requests to support multiple STACs. In such a scenario, a Primary STAC will be designated by agreement between RP chairs to coordinate and disseminate the advice from the national organisations to the other established STACs to allow them to interpret and interrogate the advice in the context of their local emergency response. This has the advantage of enabling the Primary STAC to provide coordinated expert advice from national organisations to all the STACs and ensures consistency and quality of the advice provided.
- The designation of a Primary STAC will still require each of the other affected RPs to set up what will then be called a Secondary STAC. The membership of the Secondary STAC should comprise members drawn from local organisations to consider local impacts. It is recognised that practice and capabilities may differ between RP areas, and therefore arrangements should be flexible and scalable as circumstances require. It could range from a Director of Public Health (DPH) or nominated Consultant in Public Health Medicine (CPHM) working alone, up to a STAC with the full complement of local organisations as deemed necessary. Therefore, instead of requesting direct input from national organisations, these Secondary STACs should set up links to the Primary STAC. This Primary STAC should then take on the role of coordinating the advice from those national organisations and sharing it with the Secondary STACs established in other RPs. While communication lines should be between STACs, the RP hosting the Primary STAC should be advised of significant matters that affect the wider response regardless of which STAC they originate from.
- It is vitally important that advice and guidance from organisations forming the Primary STAC is coordinated and directed so as to avoid confusing responders or issuing conflicting advice.
- The Primary STAC should take on responsibility (supported by its sponsoring RP) for maintaining coordination via regular telephone and/or video-conferencing with all the other STACs. The chair of the Primary STAC would also be responsible for chairing joint STAC meetings. The details of the Primary STAC would be communicated to SGoRR through the RP regular updates to SGoRR.
- When a Primary STAC is established, each RP would still be recommended to maintain its own Secondary STAC of relevant local personnel. There would, nevertheless, have to be a clear understanding and acceptance between all relevant RP chairs and STAC chairs that the Primary STAC was responsible for the coordination and provision of specialist advice from the national organisations.
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