Emergency services treat 'explosion casualties'
Watch the aftermath of
the 'explosion'.
Don't panic! The picture above is just a mock-up exercise used
to test how emergency services would respond to a radiological
explosion.
More than 1,000 members of the emergency services and partner
agencies from Kent and Essex took part in the live training
scenario at a fictional college near Dover Castle on Friday and
Saturday.
Police, fire and ambulance teams had to deal with a number of
'casualties' who required decontamination and other treatment.
Members of the public volunteered to act as the injured people.
There were also live role play exercises at Maidstone Hospital
and Ashford's William Harvey Hospital.
The exercise took over 12 months to plan and involved Kent
Police, Essex Police, fire and ambulance services in both counties,
as well as the Home Office, Cabinet Office, Department of Health
and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Kent County Council and
Dover District Council were also involved.
The Health Protection Agency delivered the health the exercise
to test the NHS at all relevant levels on behalf of the Department
of Health and in conjunction with The strategic Health
Authority.
Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Leppard said: "Every agency has
the opportunity to test themselves and their own staff in regular
exercises and training - but it is only when you bring all the
agencies together that you can really develop the learning
necessary about how we would all respond to a real incident on the
ground."
A police spokesman said the exercise had no impact on the
everyday policing operations in Kent, as all those involved would
not have normally been on duty.
Monday, June 29 2009