Such inquiries are not only required as part of our law to establish how and why people have died, but to assess if there are better ways of handling similar events in the future.

But there is a real danger if these inquiries attempt to put the blame on someone.

Sure, the inquiry should make recommendations to change present procedures if necessary, but we should be wary about blaming someone for their actions in the times of an emergency.

The whole point is that we were not there. We were not put in the position where we, firstly, had to find out what was really happening and then make those vital decisions.

There will be other inquiries into the shooting of an armed man in Sydney, when some bystanders were injured. Some critics, who have never had to make a life or death decision in a fraction of a second, will surely find fault with the policewoman's actions.

Your ancient scribe in his days in radio became the main means of communication in several serious emergencies. There was in Fiji an earthquake of 7.5 on the Richter scale, which was followed by a tsunami that washed into our studio, about a metre deep.

First step was to get the transmitter going: a bit of a risk, because salt water is not recommended in high voltage electrical gear. (Imagine yourself in front of a microphone in a badly cracked building and your task is to tell the people what has happened, and what might happen, when you have had no experience with earthquakes and tsunamis yourself!)

Then there was a hurricane that killed 40 people and (back in Australia) a bushfire that killed five people. I had no authority to take a pivotal role on any of these incidents but someone had to do so.

Fortunately, the right decisions must have been made and I was not asked to explain my actions in any inquiry.

The police involved in the Lindt cafe incident and the street shooting will not be so lucky, but the courts and the community should not look for someone to blame. The people conducting these inquiries were not there at the time and might never have to make immediate decisions themselves involving life or death.

The inquiries will take weeks to assess what happened in a matter of hours - or even seconds - and the people conducting the inquiry were not there.

It is quite different, sitting in a courtroom years after the event than being in the centre of a situation where assessments have to be made about something that is really happening.