Doctors who worked on the air ambulance during the 7/7 attacks want biological warfare detectors to be installed on emergency vehicles to speed up response times in the event of more suicide bombings.

In the first academic study of the response to the terrorist attacks in London, a doctor who worked on the London air ambulance has assessed the lessons that need to be learnt.

In a report tomorrow for the academic journal Resuscitation, David Lockey assesses how doctors and ambulance men and women reacted to the terrorist attack.

One of the key problems in the aftermath of the London attacks was communication. With multiple scenes and the mobile networks in the city down, there were difficult command and communication problems.

There were also lessons to be learnt about the use of appropriate clothing for a terrorist scene from the aftermath of 9/11, when fears of a chemical attack first rose for emergency staff.

With teams of ambulance staff, doctors and fire staff working in difficult conditions in underground tunnels on 7/7, protective clothing was essential.

"Full personal protective equipment and familiarity with the pre-hospital environment was essential for effective underground work," said Dr Lockey.

"These incidents presented extremely challenging and high risk environments for all involved."

But he added: "Hospital workers were sent to the scene in operating room clothes. This was unsuitable attire, so they could not, and did not, work underground."

Another issue for emergency teams arriving at a complex, confused scene on July 7, was the need to stay back until it became clear that chemical or biological weapons had not been used.

At each of the London scenes - Aldgate, Russell Square, Edgware Road and Tavistock Square - emergency teams had to wait to enter until the fire service had established that there were no signs of chemical agents; delaying the teams from helping injured and dying victims.

Dr Lockey said: "We now feel that there may be a role for chemical agent monitors and radiation monitors in our response vehicles, since in multiple incident events there may be a delay in establishing the risks posed."

He asessed the overall response to the attacks: "Every major incident is unique and provides lessons for the emergency services. Like the recent incidents in Madrid and Istanbul, the London bombings were complicated because multiple incidents occured simultaneously.

"Despite this, the seriously injured were rescued relatively quickly, provided with critical intervention on scene where necessary and transported to appropriate hospitals." Dr Lockey said the success of the emergency services could be attributed to the lessons that had been learned from several large emergency exercises which had taken place in recent years in the capital, most recently on June 12, a few weeks before the first suicide bombings.