Services put to the test
Thursday 17th February 2011, 9:30AM GMT.
Words – Alexa Rowe
Video – Jess Stevenson
Firefighters tend a casualty in last evening’s major incident exercise at the airport. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 1094764 )
AN out-of-control plane hitting a coach full of passengers at Guernsey Airport was the nightmare scenario faced by the emergency services in a training exercise last night.
More than 100 personnel were involved in what was the largest exercise ever carried out at Guernsey Airport, with 45 actors playing the casualties.
The scenario facing the emergency services started with a plane landing on a wet runway. The pilot lost control and the aircraft careered off onto the grass before hitting a bus filled with passengers being transferred to another plane. None of the personnel knew what they would be facing until they arrived on the scene.
‘It is designed to test our plans and our interaction with the other services,’ said airport director Colin Le Ray.
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45 actors …. didn’t realise the states met after 5pm. Perhaps they were on their way to look over their proposed land aquisition?
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I know the point of the exercise is emergency response and all that but should it perhaps have been a more realistic scenario? How many times have you transferred between aircraft, or an aircraft and the terminal, by bus at Guernsey Airport. Unless travelling by one particular airline, I believe everyone just walks (and gets wet when it’s raining)!
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I wonder – would this disaster have happened if we had the EMAS system?
Answers on a postcard please.
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I guess the exercise enabled all the emergency services to practice working together which was good. I did notice the bus was going to Grouville though so perhaps it got lost! In real life though there would be such a huge amount of other problems with the media and worried relatives and friends and where to take the casualties etc etc. Do they ever do a practice which stretches more than the fire and ambulance service i.e. the hospital, the media information etc etc.
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Merlin, I work in a hospital and there they have a `catastrophe plan` whereby everyone should know what to do in the event of a major disaster of any kind. I don`t know if the PEH has such provision?
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AC, PLeP. Wicked boys. Go straight to your room!
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Mr Cowley….. ROFL….:)
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“AN out-of-control plane hitting a coach full of passengers at Guernsey Airport was the nightmare scenario faced by the emergency services in a training exercise last night.”
See, even the airport authorities are wary of the Guernsey bus drivers;-)
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