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Public Safety
In New England, Public Safety involves the protection of the general population from all manners of significant danger, injury, damage or harm. The various agencies are charged with protecting against incidents that may occur in a natural disaster, as well as planning and training the public for the prevention of incidents when they may arise.
This protection is provided by those traditional organisations known as the Emergency Services, which in New England are the the Royal New England Constabluary, New England Urban Fire Service, Royal New England Accident and Emergency Service (known as the A&E), the Maritime Rescue Service and the Civil Defence Service (or CDS), in the preventative sense "public safety" must be the priority of all those who, in any way, engineer circumstances for others.
Safety is a major community concern in this nation. Lengthy (and expensive) efforts are taken to ensure the public is protected from injury to themselves or their property. These agencies all enjoy statutory exceptions, especially with the rules of road. They are also the only agencies allowed to use flashing lights of any colour, an act otherwise prevented by law. No other person or motor vehicle can use flashing lights in any situation.
Services
Police – The Royal New England Constabulary or RNEC is the frontline policing and crime prevention agency in New England. The police investigate crimes, make arrests and bring offenders before the judiciary. They also act as a deterrent to crime with regular patrols and public campaigns focusing on an issue every month such as drugs, poor driving or theft. The RNEC is also charged with the enforcement of the rules of the road and the practice of Community Behaviour Orders (also known as CBOs).
Fire - The New England Urban Fire Service is charged with the containment of prevention of fires to urban property in New England's cities and towns. The service is expected to control fire outbreak and investigate their cause. The service is divided into a number of brigades that manage fire risk and control in the community. It does not manage rural or bush fires, which are the responsibility of the Civil Defence Service.
Civil Defence – The Civil Defence Service or CDS is charged with the protection of civilians during natural or military emergencies. The CDS operates rescue operations during natural disasters, such as flood, fire, storms, blizzards and earthquakes. The agency has the power to order and enforce evacuations, and can remove people by force if they refuse to leave an evacuated area. During wartime, the CDS maintains bomb and fallout shelters, and with the assistance of the defence force, warns civilians of air and missile attack. Another major area of responsibility is the control and management of rural and bush fires. The CDS fights outbreaks and can also implement preventative back burning during the cooler months.
Accident & Emergency – The Royal New England Accident and Emergency Service or A&E is responsible for the stabilisation of injured persons after an accident and their transport to hospital. All A&E staff are trained paramedics and are given vital but limited tools order to treat persons involved in accidents or other medical emergencies (such as a heart attack). All A&E vehicles have the right of way over all other vehicles when they are rushing to an emergency.
Maritime Rescue – The Maritime Rescue Service or MRS is responsible for the rescue of persons trapped at sea. The service is supplied with boats and helicopters, and can mount sophisticated search and rescue missions along the entire length of the New England coast. The MRS has the capacity to carry out rescue mission from ships up to 200 nautical miles offshore. The MRS is smallest of the five services and operates from four ports along the coast. As well as sea rescue, the service can sometimes be called in for inland rescue when CDS resources are stretched and helicopters are required.
Hazchem
Hazchem is a warning plate system used on vehicles transporting hazardous substances, and on storage facilities housing such substances. Part of the Hazchem plate describes how an emergency service should deal with an incident pertaining to the vehicle or facility.
Hazchem details the actions to be taken when dealing with hazardous chemicals. It is used in conjunction with the ADR signs that must be carried on all vehicles carrying dangerous goods.
The top-left section of the plate gives the Emergency Action Code telling the fire brigade what actions to take if there's an accident. The middle-left section gives the UN Substance Identification Number describing the chemical. The lower-left section gives the telephone number that should be called if special advice is needed. The warning symbol at top-right indicates what danger the chemical presents. The bottom-right of the plate carries the two letter code of the lorry's county of origin.
History
There were three rescue agencies created during the government of the New England Territorial Authority, namely the Police, Fire and Ambulance services. All were separated from the New South Wales services and renamed the New England Police Service, New England Fire Service and the New England Ambulance Service. The State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service were left as the responsibility of the New South government. Budget concerns meant there were few other changes made.
In 2012, just after independence, legislation was passed creating the Civil Defence Service. Civil Defence had been under no direct authority in Australia, but many of its functions were carried out by the State Emergency Service or SES. The new CDS was granted all the existed powers of the old SES, and was also granted the responsibilities of the Rural Fire Service. Additional powers for action in wartime were granted in 2016. The service has seen few changes since and remains one the most important civil agencies in New England.
The last body created was the MRS. In 2016, a pleasure craft named the Peggy Lee was lost off Coffs Harbour. A distress beacon was activated briefly, but was then lost. At the time, responsibility for the rescue fell to the under-prepared police and ambulance services. Six days of searching failed to locate the craft, until it was found that the location of the distress beacon has been misread by the rescuers, and the craft's actual location had not been searched. No survivors were found. With the loss of sixteen people in such a needless fashion, the government decided to form a maritime rescue body that would manage sea rescue. The MRS began operations on the 1 July 2018.
In 2019 the government ordered a shake up of the senior public safety branches. All three were named and given royal charters and took on their current names. The scope of the fire service was reduced to manage only urban fire emergencies with all other fires being handed over to the watch of the CDS. Since then, all five agencies have performed their roles with little change. The only significant emergency was the Five Day War in 2032. The war presented a major challenge to the CDS, and it was able to evacuate civilians away from bombing for the couple of occasions when it occurred. Since the war, the agencies have remained a steady and good place to work, with the best conditions of any workplace in the country.
| Public Safety in New England |
| Accident & Emergency · Civil Defence · Fire · Maritime Rescue · Police |
