Emergency Planning Exercises
Cheshire Local Resilience Forum Training Day
In June 2009 Cheshire Local Resilience Forum Category 1 and Category 2 Responders across Cheshire met to discuss lessons learnt of the past year, successes of the Local Resilience Forum and looked at ways we will take our work forwards.
The day involved over 60 responders and covered topics such as Civil Contingencies Act Enhancement Programme, Resilient Telecommunications and Olympics 2012.
"The day was extremely useful, allowing me to gain a greater understanding of where we are at within the Local Resilience Forum and how the various partner agencies interact."
Practice Makes Perfect
PRACTICE really does make perfect when it comes to emergency planning.Testing emergency planning procedures is an important role for the council, and procedures for the Solvay Interox site in Lower Walton were confirmed as robust and practical following a recent test exercise coordinated by the council’s emergency planning team.
The mock incident, hailed as a success, brought together staff from the council, Solvay, Cheshire Fire Service, Cheshire Police, the Health Protection Agency and Warrington Primary Care Trust to test procedures for a major emergency.
On the day, staff acted as if it were a real incident with fire and ambulance service personnel at the site and other staff operating from two command centres.
It also gave them an opportunity to test their communication systems and identify areas for improvement.
Theresa Whitfield, emergency planning manager for the council, said “Residents should feel reassured that, while we cannot go into detail, we carry out these exercises to cover a variety of major incidents throughout the year. They make sure that the safety of the local community and all staff involved is protected in line with the Off Site Emergency Plan and that all the right procedures are in place.
“While the exercise demonstrated some learning which will be
incorporated into our Emergency Plan, we were pleased that the
overall exercise went very well.”
Solvay. “We are always happy to take part in these exercises and
work closely with the council to test our procedures. Of course
real major incidents are rare but it is still crucial that we are
prepared for any eventuality.
Ineos Exercise
On the 11th of February a major live exercise took place at the INEOS site, Runcorn (formerly owned by Imperial Chemical Industries, ICI).
Halton Borough Council like many other authorities has a statutory duty under The Control of Major Hazards Regulations (COMAH) 1999 to review and test the INEOS Off Site Emergency Plan at least once every 3 years.
The exercise involved live play on site and off site from over
100 representatives from the Emergency Services, Local Authority,
Health Agencies, Health & Safety
Executive and Port Health. Many agencies opened their own emergency
centres across Halton and the region to co-ordinate the
response.
The exercise was a great success and the lessons learnt from the
exercise and subsequent debrief will help future planning and
response and ensure the
continued safety of those living, working and commuting in and
around Halton.
Exercise Trinity II
Cheshire Local Resilience Forum recently ran a successful multi agency rail exercise. The scenario for the exercise involved a chartered steam train which was traveling from the West Midlands to Carlisle with 400 passengers on board. The train hit a JCB which was on the line, causing a derailment.
One of the objectives of the exercise was for agencies to work together to ensure that there would be minimum disruption to the transport network with return to business as usual at the earliest opportunity. Providing consistent messages on public safety and reassurance through the media and also ensuring appropriate support to the community during the incident and for the longer term.
Comments from the exercise included:
“Excellent and informative day – good understanding and
awareness of
the agencies and services available for incidents of this
type.”
“As a first-time attendee, I found this day to be extremely useful.”
Introduction to Integrated Emergency Management
In November Cheshire Local Resilience Forum ran a successful seminar with outdoor show organizers who are responsible for running events across Cheshire. Eighty attendees were informed of the latest developments in areas such as communications and resource deployment allowing responders to coordinate their efforts.
As well is input from experts, the attendees had to deal with a fractious scenario involving 5000 people attending a rural show. An intense rain storm affected the area, which resulted in collapsed marquees and stranded people.
Comments included.
“will recommend this day for senior managers and executives to attend for a bigger picture”
“very good to see how all the services will fit together in an emergency situation and ensure processes are in place”