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).

Lessons Learned from London’s 7/7 Terrorist Attack of 2005

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.

The London Fire Brigade’s Response Partnerships Today

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.

Resilience in the United Kingdom

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 U.K. Incident Management Differs from the U.S. NIMS Approach

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.

Listen on

Sir Ken Knight

Sir Ken Knight is The Commissioner for the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, and in that post is responsible for the city's fire and rescue services – i.e., the London Fire Brigade. He started his fire-service career in 1966 and, prior to assuming his current post in July 2003, served in a number of other fire brigades throughout the United Kingdom. A board member of the Chief Fire Officers Association, he chairs a number of national committees in his professional field, and also has worked overseas for the Overseas Development Agency. He was awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal in 1991, the CBE in 2001, and the Order of St. John in 2005; he was knighted in 2006 in the Queen's Birthday Honours, and in May of this year was named the U.S. Metropolitan Fire Chief of the Year – becoming the first non-U.S. recipient of that distinguished award. Sir Ken was recently selected as the U.K. Government's first Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, and will assume that position next month.

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