Civil Defence was a grouping of civilian emergency services that included the National Fire Service, the police and a whole range of support services that were part of Air Raid Precautions (more commonly referred to as the ARP). Collectively they played a vital role in providing a controlled response to the effects of German bombing raids on British cities. The ARP was managed by report and control staff, incident officers and messenger services. Casualties were dealt with by the Medical Officer of Health staff via casualty clearing zones and depots. The ARP services that were actually on the front line down among the exploding bombs and collapsing buildings included the wardens, rescue services, first aid and stretcher parties, gas identification and decontamination services, roof spotters, fire watchers and fire guards.