Don’t Panic!

‘ALMOST three years after the 9/11 attacks, the Government this morning issues its definitive advice on what to do if something similar happens here.

‘I knew it was a mistake to wear orange’

And looking at the guidance, leaked by counterterrorism minister Hazel Blears to Telegraph readers, it is easy to see why it might have taken more than 30 months to formulate.

‘You should have a list of all the telephone numbers you need, you should know what is going on in schools,’ she says.

‘Most people would be sensible around water, making sure they’ve got tinned food. If they take medication, they would need to know where that was. A lot of it is common sense.’

It is all good advice, as indeed it should be seeing as it has taken the best brains in the country almost three years to come up with it.

However, in a couple of instances, we would even go further than Miss Blears.

For instance, we would suggest that it is a good idea for people on medication to have a rough idea of where that medication is, even when the country is not under attack.

Similarly, we have long subscribed to the school of thought that says people who are around water should take sensible precautions at all times to avoid drowning, such as not tying weights to their feet and jumping in.

As for the tinned food, all we can say is that consumers should read the label carefully and only eat the stuff as part of a balanced diet.

It’s one thing to die in a chemical attack, it’s quite another to leave an overweight corpse.

Not that any of this would have helped the ‘victims’ of a mock attack in Birmingham yesterday.

They had to sit around with cones on their head for four hours while police ‘contained’ the scene and firefighters set up decontamination units.

The response time will no doubt have impressed the watching media, which included Arabic TV station al-Jazeera, and crews from Japan and France who were invited to witness the exercise.

But the ‘victims’ appeared unconcerned at their fate.

Presumably, they spent the time following Miss Blears’ advice – memorising a list of telephone numbers and trying to work out what the hell is going on in the country’s schools…’

Posted: 19th, July 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink