Emergency crews took part in Europe’s largest disaster training exercise to test their response to mass casualties.
More than 1,000 volunteer “victims” covered with fake blood and injuries are part of the drill based around a tower block collapsing on to Waterloo tube station in London.
Four separate venues in London as well as a disused power station in Dartford, Kent, were used for the exercise which ran for four days.
Firefighters, police officers and ambulance staff took part in the exercise, which involved eight London Underground carriages that were entombed with debris.
The noise was deafening: screaming, banging, shouting. Volunteers pretending to be passengers trapped in a smashed tube carriage deep below Waterloo Station were desperately trying to attract the attention of the first police and fire fighters on the scene.
The Fire Service went to considerable lengths to make its biggest-ever disaster exercise look and feel realistic making it a chance for Fire and Rescue teams to practice their ‘Urban Search and Rescue’ Skills.
It was also a chance to practice co-ordination with other agencies, including not just the police and ambulance but local authorities and even the specialists called in on these occasions to help identify dead bodies.
Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: ‘‘you can’t get this sort of experience from a text book. We need to play it like its real and ensure that should the worst happen, our response is effective and well-co-ordinated.’’
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For more information please contact us today at +44 (0)330 159 5088 or email: [email protected]