Ambulance volunteers in major incident simulation (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Ambulance volunteers in major incident simulation

8:20am Thursday 25th February 2010 in News

KIDDERMINSTER St John Ambulance volunteers took part in a simulated large scale major incident.

The simulation, named Exercise Stable, was held at West Midlands Fire Service Training and Development Centre in Smethwick.

It involved a total of 70 St John Ambulance members responding without prior warning to an emergency call out from training organisers.

The aim of the drill was to test the volunteers’ response when working with another agency, in this instance West Midlands Fire Service, in a live emergency situation.

Casualties were provided by local volunteer bureaus and West Midlands Fire service, and realistic make-up was applied to match their assigned injury. By-standers were also provided to attempt to distract first aiders assessing the situation.

The incident revolved around an event at which St John Ambulance was already providing first aid cover, when a single-decker bus carrying visitors collided with two cars.

Eight ambulances, a staff car, a major duty support unit and treatment centre support unit were all brought to the scene, along with volunteer first aiders and command team to attend to the 30 casualties.

The team worked to ensure that casualties were transported safely from the danger area, and casualties’ injuries ranged from bruising and disorientation to clinical shock and a broken pelvis.

Four casualties were trapped inside cars and needed to be kept stable until they could be reached. While the St John Ambulance volunteers gave the casualties oxygen and held their necks straight with neck braces, the fire officers cut away the roofs of the cars.

The two teams then worked together to remove the casualties from the cars using spine boards and then move them on stretchers to the field hospital and ambulances. During this, one casualty went into cardiac arrest.

In total, the event ran for an hour and a half and tested every aspect of the teams’ first aid skills, knowledge and collaboration.

Glen Curry, St John Ambulance emergency planning officer West Midlands, said: “Trying to make any exercise of this nature as realistic as possible is always a challenge, but it worked exceptionally well and has been a very worthwhile opportunity for our volunteers and our fire service colleagues.”