Safeguarding contacts

The safeguarding leads can advise on Association processes, but they are not emergency responders and must not be used to delay a necessary external referral. A practitioner remains responsible for acting under the law, employer procedures and professional obligations that apply where the person is located.

1. Purpose and status

This policy establishes minimum safeguarding requirements for Association members, trainers, supervisors, staff, contractors and volunteers when acting on behalf of the Association or providing IEMT-related services. It applies to in-person and remote work, training, events, online groups, messaging and other professional contact.

The Association is a professional membership body, not a police force, local authority, healthcare regulator or statutory safeguarding agency. Its internal procedures cannot replace external protection, investigation or emergency action.

Members practising outside England must follow the law and safeguarding arrangements of their own country, nation, state or region. Members with another professional registration, employer or insurer must also comply with those requirements where they are higher or more specific.

2. Who safeguarding protects

A child is anyone under 18. Safeguarding children includes protecting them from maltreatment, preventing impairment of health or development and taking action so they grow up with safe and effective care.

For adult safeguarding in England, the central Care Act framework concerns an adult who has needs for care and support, is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect and, because of those needs, is unable to protect themselves from that abuse or neglect. Other UK nations and countries use their own definitions and legal tests.

Vulnerability is contextual and may change. Age, disability, illness, distress, dependency, isolation, poverty, discrimination, immigration insecurity or substance use may affect risk, but must not be treated as proof that a person lacks capacity or is being abused.

Concerns may involve physical, sexual, emotional or psychological abuse; neglect or self-neglect; domestic abuse and coercive control; financial or material abuse; discriminatory or organisational abuse; trafficking, modern slavery or criminal exploitation; forced marriage or so-called honour-based abuse; female genital mutilation; online grooming, sextortion or other digital harm; radicalisation; or abuse by a professional or person in a position of trust.

3. Core responsibilities

• Put immediate safety before IEMT, confidentiality preferences, reputation, training relationships or membership interests.
• Know the emergency, children’s and adult safeguarding routes for the client’s location before working with higher-risk situations.
• Maintain clear boundaries and never use IEMT to investigate an allegation, test the truth of a memory, obtain evidence or replace specialist assessment.
• Work only within training, competence, insurance and lawful scope, with suitable supervision and referral arrangements.
• Make reasonable communication and accessibility adjustments without making assumptions about capacity or credibility.
• Do not promise secrecy. Explain that information may need to be shared when someone may be at risk.

4. Responding to a disclosure or concern

Do not investigate, conduct repeated interviews, ask leading questions, confront an alleged perpetrator or attempt to resolve a disclosure through IEMT. Do not continue a technique when urgent safety, medical assessment or statutory action takes priority.

5. Choosing the correct reporting route

• Immediate danger or urgent medical need: emergency services, 999 in the UK.
• Concern about a child in England: the local authority children’s social care service for the child’s location. Contact police where a crime or immediate danger is involved.
• Concern about an adult at risk in England: the local authority adult safeguarding service for the adult’s location. Contact police where appropriate.
• Non-emergency police matter in the UK: 101, or the relevant police force’s online reporting route.
• Allegation concerning a person who works with children: follow the local authority’s allegation-management route. In England this may involve the Local Authority Designated Officer, according to local threshold and procedure.
• Mental-health crisis or serious self-harm risk: use emergency or urgent healthcare services. A crisis is not managed through IEMT or by an Association email.

6. Information sharing and confidentiality

Seek consent to share information when it is appropriate and safe, but do not treat consent as the only possible lawful basis. Information may need to be shared without consent to protect a child or adult at risk, prevent serious harm, report crime or meet another legal obligation.

• Share only information that is relevant, necessary and proportionate.
• Share it with a person or body able to act on the concern.
• Be transparent with the person where it is safe to do so.
• Record what was shared, with whom, the reason and the decision about consent.
• When uncertain, seek prompt advice without delaying action needed for safety.

7. Allegations concerning an Association member

Safety and statutory reporting take priority over the Association’s internal process. The Association may notify police, safeguarding services, an employer, insurer or relevant professional body where lawful and necessary. It may also use proportionate interim membership measures while facts are established. An interim measure is protective and does not itself determine that an allegation is true.

Internal safeguarding review, a complaint and disciplinary action are distinct processes but may overlap. Fairness to the person complained about must not be used to delay protection, and confidentiality must not be used to conceal risk.

8. Records and retention

• Keep safeguarding records separate where practical, access-controlled and securely transmitted.
• Distinguish fact, direct quotation, observation, third-party information and professional opinion.
• Do not alter an original record without preserving a clear audit trail.
• Use a documented retention decision based on purpose, law, limitation periods, insurance and the needs of children or adults at risk.
• Do not automatically delete a record merely because an allegation was not substantiated. Retain or dispose of it according to a lawful, reasoned schedule.

9. Remote and online practice

Before remote work, consider the client’s location, privacy, communication access, safe interruption plan and how emergency or safeguarding help could be reached. Online boundaries apply to messaging, groups and social media as well as video sessions. Practitioners must not provide informal crisis management through private messages or continue a remote session when they cannot respond safely.

10. Training, supervision and compliance

Members must maintain safeguarding learning appropriate to their client group, role and jurisdiction. They must use supervision or specialist advice for complex decisions while recognising that consultation must not delay urgent action. Serious or repeated failure to follow this policy may be considered under the Association’s complaints and disciplinary arrangements.

Authoritative guidance

• Working Together to Safeguard Children, current statutory guidance for England.
• Care and Support Statutory Guidance, including adult safeguarding in England.
• Information sharing advice for safeguarding practitioners.
• Mandatory reporting of female genital mutilation, England and Wales.