A police officer leads people from Manchester (U.K.) Arena after a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert May 22, 2017. (Getty Images)
An independent review of the response to the bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester last May praised personnel from arena operator SMG and security and crowd management firm Showsec.
The attack in a foyer outside Manchester Arena on May 22 killed 22 people plus the bomber and injured more than 500.
The review focuses on the response in the nine days that followed the attack and concludes that “there is a lot to be proud of in the response, both for the city-region of Greater Manchester and its emergency services.” The results were published Tuesday.
SMG had a security staff of about 140 on duty at the concert, 30 of whom were full-time security and the remainder stewards employed by Showsec. As people were leaving the arena when the bomb detonated just after 10:30 p.m., the duty manager decided to allow the audience to continue to exit, believing it to be the safest option.
“Within the first few minutes after the explosion, the duty manager instructed Showsec stewards in the Arena bowl to close the aisles nearest to the foyer exit and for the stewards on the concourse to position themselves to divert concert goers in order, as far as possible, to avoid the public having to witness the scenes in the foyer,” the report said.
Emergency Training UK is responsible for first aid during events at the arena. Despite not receiving an all-clear signal from the duty manager, “all thirteen Emergency Training staff, two Emergency Medical Technicians and eleven first aiders either went to the foyer, where the director started a triage process, or otherwise supported those attending to the injured in the foyer. They were soon joined by SMG staff with first aid training, first aid kits and equipment (stretchers and carry chairs) and by BTP officers from the station.”
By 11 p.m. all guests and staff had been evacuated, apart from casualties and staff in the arena control room.
“Based on everything seen and heard, the Panel believes that staff at the Arena made a positive difference and that, without their contributions, the response would have been diminished. The Panel recognizes that SMG, Showsec and EMT-UK personnel went above and beyond their roles to provide humanitarian assistance,” the report said.
Other positives in the report include a well-prepared emergency response team that acted quickly and brave arena and members of the public. Negative included delays in the arrival of fire and rescue units and the failure of Vodafone’s National Mutual Aid Telephony system, for which Vodafone has apologized.
Bob Kerslake, former head of the Civil Service, was chairman of the review panel, which Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham established.
This story originally appeared on Pollstar.com.