East Midlands 5 Pack + 1 Programme
Public Health
The Air Quality Cell (AQC)
24th February 2011
Alec Dobney
Principal Environmental Public Health Scientist
Overview
• The need for air quality data during major incidents
• Command structures
• The public health response
• Follow-up – Recovery Co-ordination Group
Why we need AQC
The Buncefield Fire: an incident with wider implications
Two main issues were identified
following Buncefield (in December ’05)
regarding obtaining air quality
information and health advice:
• the need to co-ordinate the provision
of air quality information to Gold
Command; and
• the need to improve air quality
monitoring capability
Figure 1: Fires by type / facility responded to by HPA (CRCE) in
England and Wales, between 01/01/07 and 07/10/09
10%
5%
5%
43%
8%
10%
2% 4%
13%
Tyre fires
Plastics inc. styrene
Mixed waste
Demolition waste
at recycling facilities
at landfill site
at paper mill
wood inc. timber yards
other
Environmental monitoring:
who does it?
The Fire and Rescue Services ??
The Environment Agency ??
Local Authorities ??
The HPA ??
During past incidents, multi-agency responders agreed that
environmental monitoring would be useful…
…however, no single agency had overall responsibility
Post Buncefield:
New responsibilities for the EA
Defra gave new responsibilities (and
funding) to the Environment Agency (EA) for
coordinating & undertaking air quality
monitoring during major incidents
New resources include:
• Rapid response teams (8 x 2 person
mobile teams) with hand-held monitoring
equipment
• Vehicle-based real-time monitoring
(2 mobile laboratories)
The EA became the lead agency for the new
Air Quality Cell (AQC) arrangements
Location of AQ
Monitoring Teams
Monitoring during incidents
General principles:
•
Carrying out environmental monitoring (sampling) during acute
chemical incidents can aid in refining the public health risk
assessment
•
Monitoring provides a measure of the environmental concentrations
of selected chemicals over time
•
Monitoring is most useful when carried out at receptor locations (i.e.
places where people are)
•
Some environmental concentrations can be compared to healthbased exposure standards
•
Monitoring can provide reassurance
The Air Quality Cell (AQC):
What is it?
• A virtual multi-agency advisory group which can be convened (within 2
hours) during a major incident to co-ordinate air monitoring and modelling
• Partners include EA, HPA, Met Office, HSL, FSA + others
• It aims to provide timely (interpreted) air quality and air modelling
information to the Science and Technical Advice Cell (if formed), or to a
multi-agency group.
Command and Control Structures
When a major incident is declared a multi-agency SILVER (tactical) and/or
GOLD (strategic) Command may be called
• The police usually chair the multi-agency response to an incident
• The HPA may be represented at SILVER and/or GOLD
A Science and Technical Advice Cell (STAC) may be formed if there is a
GOLD
• The STAC is usually chaired by the local Director of Public Health or a
senior HPA staff member
In some cases a multi-agency health group may be formed to co-ordinate
efforts when a Silver and/or Gold is called
AQC arrangements
FRS and
other
responders
Science and Technical
Advice Cell (STAC) or MultiAgency Group
Health
Protection
Agency
Air modelling data
Met Office,
HSL and
others
Air monitoring data
Air Quality Cell
(AQC)
Environment
Agency
The Air Quality Cell:
What is the scope?
Called for major incidents in England or Wales, which affect air quality:
a release of hazardous substances to air with the potential to cause
significant harm to the public and the environment:
Includes:
Excludes:
All types of incident site
Radiological, nuclear or biological
incidents
Fires – toxic combustion products
Acts of terrorism involving chemical
Offshore – where plume can reach warfare agents
the mainland
The Air Quality Cell:
What does it do?
• Decide the nature and scale of the monitoring and modelling
response
• Plan and deliver the monitoring strategy
• Plan and deliver the modelling strategy
• Interpret real-time data
•
Provide considered and timely advice on air quality information via
HPA representative at STAC or multi-agency meeting where STAC is
not formed.
• Respond to questions and direction from STAC or multi-agency
meeting
AQC Trigger Criteria:
Calling an AQC
Either STAC (if formed) or multi-agency meeting calls for an AQC
OR (more typically) the EA in consultation with HPA CRCE
Factors influencing whether an AQC is called include:
•
Source toxicity: scale of hazard
•
Sensitive receptors: risk to human health
•
Predicted duration of incident and aftermath (6 hours or more)
•
Scale of multi-agency resources already deployed
AQC Activation Process
Incident
FRS?
EA Alerted
“NAQTA”
AIR
QUALITY
AQC CHAIR
CELL
AQC SUPPORT
CRCE
MET OFFICE
FSA
HEALTH AND SAFETY
LABORATORY
OTHER
CRCE
HPU
AQC trigger criteria:
EA considerations
Is the incident a chemical release, fire or explosion?
Is a Silver or Gold established?
OR at least ONE of the following:
public exposed to potential or known health risk and advised to remain
indoors/ close windows? properties are being evacuated?
OR deployment of at least ONE of the following:
4 or more fire appliances/pumps (6 in London)
HAZMAT Officer
FRS Detection, Identification and Monitoring (DIM) vehicle
If so, the EA will contact HPA CRCE to discuss the need for an AQC
Timeline for AQC
0 - 30 min
30 min-2 h
2-6h
6 - 12 h
3-5 days
Air modelling
Met Office
CHEMET
FIREMET
Source
term and
Met Office
modelling
Updated
Met Office
model
results
Bespoke
modelling
by experts
Air monitoring
FRS
DIM
(detection
only)
Hand held
equipment
Real time
air conc
results
AURN
Laboratory
results
Technical advice
AQC
advice
AQC
advice
AQC
advice
AQC
advice
The role of the Environment Agency
Act as co-ordinator of the AQC
• Organise and chair the teleconferences
• Administrate AQC documentation
Provide monitoring resources
• Liaise with monitoring teams
• Fund AQC activities
The role of the HPA
•
To provide public health advice – both within the AQC and within any
STAC or multi-agency meeting
•
Within the AQC, the HPA are the EA’s ‘primary customer’ and CRCE
staff will be members of the AQC
•
HPA CRCE are responsible for providing the AQC’s advice to the
HPA representative at STAC or multi-agency meeting – this will
usually be a member of the Heath Protection Unit
HPA Actions
• Discuss AQC activation with EA
• Advise on monitoring team locations and substances to be modelled and
monitored
• Identify population at risk (from GIS maps and discussions with HPU)
• Interpret AQC data and model outputs
• Communicate AQC advice to relevant command structures and answer
questions
• Alert and liaise with health agencies (PCT, NHS Direct, GPs)
• Warn and inform the public (in partnership with other stakeholders)
AQC partners
• Health and Safety Laboratory – advanced modelling capability,
chemical reactivity advice and enhanced monitoring
• Food Standards Agency – food uptake and contamination
• Met Office – weather forecast and basic/advanced modelling
capability
• Local Authorities – local air quality data and AQC handover to
recovery group
• Other organisations/individuals – specific expertise as required
Standing down the AQC
•
The AQC will operate for up to 5 days or until the acute phase of the
incident is over – whichever is the shortest
•
The AQC Chair (EA staff member) decides, in consultation with HPA,
when to stand down
•
When the emergency phase of an incident is over the AQC will
handover to the Local Authority (Recovery Co-ordination Group)
e.g. after the point when the emergency services hand control of the
incident to the Local Authority or another appointed organisation
What the AQC wont do
• Will not provide raw data to stakeholders outside of the AQC
• Will not tell STAC or multi-agency meeting what to do. AQC will provide
reasoned options for discussion.
• Will not organise monitoring within emergency services’ cordons or within
enclosed spaces
• Will not deal with health and safety or occupational health queries from
either the emergency services or businesses affected by an incident
• Will not undertake monitoring throughout protracted incidents (>5 days)
• Cannot monitor for asbestos
• Cannot advise on issues other than air quality issue (including deposition)
Summary
• Improvements to air monitoring capability to provide a 24/7 response
• Improvements to modelling capability with a 24/7 response from external
experts
• Fire and Rescue Service most likely to alert EA
• EA and CRCE discuss the need for an AQC
• Multi-agency AQC will co-ordinate provision of interpreted air quality data
• AQC will link to STAC or Multi-agency group via the HPA
• HPA link to incident command
• AQC chair and HPA decide when the Cell stands down
Experiences to date (1)
• It is very important to ensure that the AQC and STAC or multi-agency
groups “battle rhythms” are discussed early in the incident and
synchronised
• It takes time (hours) before the AQC is able to provide interpreted data
• The AQC operates 24/7 – but monitoring data may not always be
supplied 24/7 due to health and safety considerations of monitoring
teams
• The AQC is not a substitute for multi-agency liaison – it remains
important to talk during an incident
• AQC information will help refine the public health risk assessment, not
replace it
• AQC outputs may not always change public health actions but will
provide greater confidence in the risk assessment
Experiences to date (2)
• AQC data can be used to inform on-site fire-fighting strategies as
well as shelter/evacuate decisions
• The AQC arrangements are still quite new to the AQC attendees
and the AQC stakeholders
• It is important to manage multi-agency expectations at STAC or
multi-agency groups about what the AQC can and can’t do
• Many Local Authorities aren’t familiar with the AQC arrangements –
particularly the arrangements for handover from the AQC
• Data and outputs from the AQC are owned by the AQC chair
Thank you for listening
Any questions…?