EXPLAINER
JESIP, in plain English
Last reviewed: June 2026 — the JESIP Joint Doctrine is under review; check jesip.org.uk for the latest edition.
When several emergency services respond to the same incident, the danger isn’t effort — it’s that they can’t see the same picture. JESIP exists to fix that. Here’s what it is, the principles behind it, and where Share999 genuinely helps. We’ve linked the official source throughout, because this is doctrine owned by the emergency services — not by us.
What JESIP is
JESIP stands for the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles. Its motto — “working together, saving lives” — is the whole idea: police, fire & rescue, and ambulance (and the wider responders alongside them) working as one at an incident, instead of three services running in parallel.
JESIP defines interoperability as “the extent to which organisations can work together coherently as a matter of routine.” Its Joint Doctrine sets the standard approach to multi-agency working, backed by training and awareness products. It applies to all incidents — spontaneous or pre-planned, large or small.
Why it exists
Time and again, reviews of major incidents found the same failure: the services struggled to share information and co-ordinate in the first chaotic minutes. JESIP was created so that working together is built-in and practised, not improvised on the day.
The five principles for joint working
Used at every phase of an incident, in roughly this order (though they can flex):
Co-locate — get commanders together so they can communicate and understand each other. With technology, this co-location can be virtual — which matters for regional, national, or drawn-out incidents.
Communicate — meaningful communication underpins everything, and it should start from the first call, with control rooms sharing information as early as possible.
Co-ordinate — agree priorities, allocate resources, make joint decisions, and avoid duplication and conflicting action.
Jointly understand risk — each service assesses risk, then shares what it finds, so control measures are planned together.
Shared situational awareness — the heart of it: a common understanding of what’s happening, what it means, and what each agency can do about it.
Shared situational awareness
This is JESIP’s central goal. It means everyone responding holds the same understanding of the circumstances, the likely consequences, and each organisation’s capabilities and priorities — at the same time. Most failures at major incidents trace back to its absence.
M/ETHANE — the common message
M/ETHANE is the shared reporting structure responders and control rooms use to pass incident information in a consistent shape. (Below the major-incident threshold, it’s simply “ETHANE.”) JESIP encourages other organisations that may be part of a multi-agency response to use it too.
M — Major incident — declared, or not yet (yes/no).
E — Exact location — as precise as possible: streets, landmarks, building numbers, postcodes, GPS or what3words.
T — Type of incident — what’s actually happening (e.g. collision, explosion, building collapse).
H — Hazards — present, suspected, and potential.
A — Access — safe routes in and out, and rendezvous points.
N — Number of casualties — and, where known, severity.
E — Emergency services — which agencies are on scene or required.
The Joint Decision Model (JDM)
The JDM gives commanders from different services a shared way to make decisions together: gather information, assess risk and set a working strategy, weigh powers and options, take action, and review — with shared situational awareness at the centre of every step.
Where Share999 fits
JESIP describes how the emergency services should work together. Share999 is a tool that helps achieve several of those aims. It is not a JESIP product, it is not endorsed by JESIP, and it does not replace the doctrine, the training, or command structures. What it does is make the shared picture easier to reach:
Communicate, from the first second. JESIP says shared communication should begin at the first call. Share999 opens a shared channel the moment an emergency is reported — so the site and the responding services are connected from the start, not after the sirens.
Shared situational awareness. Share999 puts every agency — and the people on site — on one live picture of what’s happening, where, and who’s doing what. That common operating picture is exactly what JESIP is reaching for.
Virtual co-location. JESIP recognises co-location can be virtual through technology. When commanders can’t be in the same room, Share999 is the shared view that keeps them aligned.
Co-ordinate and jointly understand risk. One picture helps agencies agree priorities, avoid duplication, and share known hazards in real time rather than piecing them together afterward.
M/ETHANE-shaped reporting. Share999 can carry the same structured information M/ETHANE is built around — location, type, hazards, access, numbers, services required — from a site straight to responders, at once. For a venue, school, or site that JESIP already invites to use M/ETHANE, that’s a clean way to send the right picture the first time.
Verify the source
This page is a plain-English summary. The authoritative material — the Joint Doctrine, the principles, M/ETHANE, the JDM, and the current doctrine review — lives with JESIP:
Share999 supports your emergency response. It does not replace it. In an emergency, always call 999.