The government is currently finalising a national emergency response and planning framework, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia said on Thursday.

Speaking at the Richmond Foundation Annual Conference titled 'Dealing with Trauma', the Home Affairs and National Security Minister said "My ministry is actively planning for major incident scenarios by finalising the essential national emergency response and planning frameworks.

"Table-top exercises are being run on several major incident scenarios, and gaps in capability will be identified and submitted to the Cabinet, with attendant recommendations. The government is strongly committed to capability-building within Malta's national emergency response and security agencies, and is determined to identify and overcome the challenges that lie in our way.

"Raising awareness is fundamental to bringing major incident trauma into the national and international social agenda.  Further research is needed in this field and our government actively encourages and supports such initiatives."

Richmond's conference yesterday addressed public policy development by highlighting the wide-spread incidence of trauma and underlining the importance of high-quality trauma-informed services, particularly with National Emergency Services.

Present at the conference were various stakeholders, including the Director of the Civil Protection Department Emanuel Psaila, and Inspector Charlot Casha within the Police Forensic Science Laboratory.

Farrugia explained how that trauma management is a fundamental element of emergency planning which is often overlooked, taken for granted, or else treated as an afterthought. In a crisis, where the onset of impacts could be very sudden, and when risk events simply develop very fast, the effects of hazards are felt almost instantly.

The Minister said that multiple layers of victims can be directly affected and traumatised, the broader community left in shock, and even the emergency services themselves are not immune from the effects of shock, distress and suffering, as well as extremely demanding, often hazardous conditions.