Police, fire and ambulance chiefs all spoke of the importance of joined up working  at the launch of the Centre for Research in Emergency Services and Training in Liverpool this morning.

CREST will bring together the latest research from across the Services in the North West to provide a consistent service incorporating not just police, fire and ambulance but also coastguard, air-sea and mountain rescue.

The centre is based at Liverpool Hope University and CREST Director Dr Paresh Wankhade said: “CREST will be a unique institution in the North West of England for blue light services.

"We hope that be providing a platform for interaction and sharing of ideas for the emergency services, we can build on an already fantastic service.

Merseyside Chief Constable Jon Murphy was representing the police and said: “The success of the police service depends not just on learning from experience but developing new knowledge and it is the research from CREST that will create that knowledge to enable us to develop in the future.”

Chief Fire Officer Steve McGuirk from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue and Paul Kudray, Director of Resilience for the North West Ambulance Service joined CC Murphy in praising the potential benefits of CREST - for more on the Fire and Ambulance Service's views visit www.fire-magazine.co.uk and www.ambulancenews.com 

Posted 21/02/2012 by richard.hook@pavpub.com