Hazardous Area Response Teams: celebrating 10 years in the making and counting

Some of you may be reading this article and frantically checking the calendar. Not for the day or the month but the year. Is it really 10 years since the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) began? Well, dear reader, it is and yes it is 2016.

The HART programme has been operating for longer than you think. This article is intended to provide you with the history of the program from humble beginnings to the present day and maybe a hint of the future.

There has long been a strong interest from both the Department of Health and the ambulance service to see staff operating further forward in a major incident and delivering clinical care. Work had already begun with exercise Osiris 2 at Bank Street Underground Station in 2003. What research tells us is that outcomes are improved with early interventions with even the most basic of skills. The challenge is to deliver any level of care in a semi permissive environment whilst wearing PPE. PPE which, can greatly reduce dexterity and vision as well as the increased physical demands of breathing through respirator canisters, using a BA set and carrying heavy equipment.