multi-agency exercise
Interoperability test
A training exercise with fire, police, coastguard, and ambulance personnel took place in July in southwest England to test communications interoperability. Jose Sanchez reports.
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multi-agency training exercise involving a small-scale coastguard evacuation from a remote and inaccessible location has been described as a watershed moment for emergency communications in the county of Hampshire. The basic scenario consisted of a fall from height at Hurst Spit, where Lymington Coastguard and South Central Ambulance Service would be deployed to treat, package, and evacuate by helicopter any casualties, with assistance from the fire service. The Coastguard helicopter would then carry the casualties to a landing area, from which they could be taken to hospital. A team from the SCAS Clinical Coordination Centre also attended as a remote control room, to exercise the dispatch and logging process for the ambulance service. The specific objectives were to assess the logistical problems of transferring local personnel and equipment from shore to Hurst Castle. This 16th-century artillery fort was constructed on the Hurst Spit in Hampshire to protect against
French invasion via the western entrance of the Solent waterway. The incident location is reachable only by ferry or using 4x4 vehicles driving on the shingle strip that constitutes Hurst Spit. While overcoming accessibility to the incident was envisaged as a significant challenge, the bigger challenge was the successful operational use of the JESIP communications protocol. This protocol is the result of the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme that was set up in 2012 to attempt to address the difficulties surrounding inter-agency communications during large-scale incidents. It provides guidance for multi-agency response as well as a standard approach to multi-agency working. In theory, its five principles and models can be applied to any type of multi-agency incident: co-locate; communicate; coordinate; jointly understand risk; and share situational awareness.
Operation Nelson kicked off with two 4x4s heading down the shingle strip towards Hurst Castle, where the Coastguard and ambulance crew were greeted by the sight of the casualties, one impaled by a piece of metal protruding from a block of concrete, the other mobile but with an arm fracture.
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