Technology can ease disruption in high-risk security alerts

The past 10 years have seen a series of incidents involving suspect packages at UK airports.

Whether they were hoaxes or genuine threats, there have been incidents at most of the UK's biggest airports, including Gatwick, Luton, Bristol, Heathrow (2,000 people were evacuated from Terminal 2 in 2006) and Leeds-Bradford (in March 2009).

When dealing with these situations it is essential to establish the exact contents of the package quickly and accurately with minimal exposure to risk. In particular it is vital to confirm whether a package is a hoax or a genuine threat. Once the contents are known, the authorities are far better placed to judge their response.

Scanning equipment used to detect whether a package is a threat plays a pivotal role in the handling of these high-risk security situations. Are current solutions doing enough to speed the detection of threats in suspect packages, increase the safety for security staff and ultimately ease the disruption caused by these security alerts?