Cross-service collaboration and skill sharpening have been worked on over the course of a three day training exercise at Cotswold Airport.
Firefighters, police officers, ambulance crews and military personnel were all part of the exercise that honed skills on how service respond to major incidents. This included multiple scenarios, such as a plane crash, a terrorist attack, trapped casualties, and the discovery of an identified device and suspected nerve agent.
Organisations involved included:
- Firefighters from Avon, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Wiltshire, West Midlands, as well as Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Services
- Cotswold Airport
- Police
- Ambulance
- The military
- The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s Area Manager, Matt Armstrong, said:
“This training exercise has provided a fantastic opportunity for us to work in collaboration with other services, partners, and organisations as well as enabling us to assure our levels of response to significant incidents.
"Simulated incidents are developed to reflect potential real-life scenarios ensuring that we are fully prepared and can respond effectively and appropriately when we are needed.
"Ourselves and our partners train extensively to develop strong working relationships and share knowledge to ensure that we can deliver the highest level of emergency response to our communities.”
Shane Saunders, Hicks Gate Fire Station’s Watch Manager, added:
“This training exercise has provided an exciting and unique opportunity for Urban Search and Rescue, firefighters, paramedics, police, military, and facilitators to test their reaction to a major incident involving aircrafts.
“Although we hope we’ll never be called to such a devastating incident, it’s vital that we practice our response and how we work alongside other agencies.”
Image credit: Avon Fire and Rescue Service