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CR5 Accepted

Mass Persons in Water Triage procedure

Cranston Inquiry · The Cranston Inquiry Report · Issued 5 February 2026 · Addressed to: HM Coastguard

Source — verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Those involved in maritime search and rescue should adopt formally the Mass Persons in the Water Triage procedure to govern the operational response to a maritime search and rescue incident when the number of people requiring rescue exceeds the capability of the search and rescue units on scene.

Cranston Inquiry, The Cranston Inquiry Report · 5 Feb 2026 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:

Government response: Accepted. No public evidence of delivery has been found.

Sources

Government response (2026-07-16): Accepted Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cranston-inquiry-interim-response Text: The Multiple Persons in Water Triage Tool developed by HMCG has been adopted by the RNLI and vessels that are contracted by Border Security Command (BSC). Following international consultation and endorsement through the International Mass Rescue Federation (IMRF), the RNLI have now implemented the t
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by baseline-data-v1 on 17 Aug 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The evidence above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.

Response — verbatim from government

●HM Coastguard

The Multiple Persons in Water Triage Tool developed by HMCG has been adopted by the RNLI and vessels that are contracted by Border Security Command (BSC). Following international consultation and endorsement through the International Mass Rescue Federation (IMRF), the RNLI have now implemented the tool throughout the UK to all their lifeboat crews. In March 2026, HMCG shared the tool with all other SAR delivery partners, including independent lifeboats and Bristow Helicopters. The tool is also included in HMCG’s Mass Rescue Operations Plan, which is used by operational HMCG staff as a framework for how to best respond to a large-scale mass rescue operation. It outlines the roles within a response, how HMCG should respond and requirements to train, exercise and continuously develop.

HM Coastguard · 16 Jul 2026 Written response →

Evidence trail — what's actually happened since

No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.

Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.

How this page is built

Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.

This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.