Recommendation MAI-119: Integrate air ambulances into Major Incident response
From Manchester Arena Inquiry: Volume 2: Emergency Response, published 3 November 2022.
Recommendation
The Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS, the National Ambulance Resilience Unit, ambulance service trusts, Air Ambulances UK, Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters and JESIP should consider what staff training and resources would be required to integrate air ambulance organisations into the emergency response to Major Incidents, including terrorist attacks.
In brief (written by this site)
The Inquiry recommended planning training and resources to integrate air ambulances into major incident response. In February 2026, the Cabinet Office reported that the Clinical Response to Major Incidents (CRMI) group had agreed a revised timeline to 2027 because of resource constraints (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). It noted that initial focus would be on casualty management and clinical support to command sub-groups, but air ambulance organisations were not mentioned in the update (Cabinet Office, Feb 2026). Earlier, in November 2025, the UK Government recorded that the recommendation was accepted in full (Cabinet Office response, Nov 2025).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Accepted in full
Delivery
Cabinet Office says in progress (27 February 2026)
Clinical Response to Major Incidents (CRMI) group met to agree revision to timelines in view of resource constraints. The focus initially will be on 'Casualty Management' and 'Clinical Support to Command' sub-groups of the programme. Revised timeline to 2027.
Earlier statement on delivery (1)
Cabinet Office (14 November 2025)
Clinical Response to Major Incidents (CRMI) group met to agree revision to timelines in view of resource constraints. The focus initially will be on 'Casualty Management' and 'Clinical Support to Command' sub-groups of the programme. Revised timeline to 2027.
From: Manchester Arena Inquiry Recommendations Dashboard, original version (data file)
Published evidence
Published findings referenced by inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether the finding is independent or government self-reported. Each finding is this site's summary of what the source found, with a link to the source; this site does not add its own progress rating.
Summary by this site of the published finding
JESIP Joint Doctrine updated to v3.1 (April 2024) following inquiry findings on interoperability failures. Operation Plato reformed to cover all terrorist attack types, not just firearms. Emphasis extended beyond command-level to frontline responders.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- UK Government
Response - Cabinet Office
Delivery statement