Hemel Hempstead hosts 'critical incident' training session involving 300 emergency responders
Hundreds of emergency responders attended critical incident training session in Hemel Hempstead.
Police officers and firefighters were sent to Hemel Hempstead’s Snow Centre to practice reacting to a major collision in extreme weather.
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service organised the event that was attended by 300 frontline workers. It was codenamed Frostbite and saw the police join forces with paramedics, firefighters, military staff, and other health officials.
Participants were tested on their knowledge and ability to react to a collision in extreme conditions.
Hertfordshire Constabulary has released video footage from the exercise, and says it took months of organisation to put together.
To make sure the event was replicable to real life organisations from outside of the county contributed, including the Air Ambulance team that also cover Essex, and a critical care service shared with Bedfordshire.
People involved in the exercise had to follow JESIP (Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles). JESIP has been established to improve the way police forces, fire and rescue services and ambulance trusts work together when responding to major incidents.
Chief Constable Charlie Hall said: “The multi-agency exercise gave our officers a realistic opportunity to prepare for a major incident in tough conditions, while working with other emergency services such as the ambulance service, fire and rescue service, critical care teams, and the search and rescue team amongst others
“It was a brilliant event and I want to praise everyone who was involved both from a policing perspective and other emergency services. JESIP will only become stronger the more practice we have with these situations, and although you can’t always fully prepare for a major incident, you can give yourself the best chance with up-to-date training and being equipped.
“It is important that we train alongside other emergency services, to ensure that we will function well together when jointly deployed to the benefit of the public.”
Video footage released by the police shows officers inspecting the crashed vehicle, and other participants using torches to investigate the surrounding area. Paramedics are seen treating a dummy and propping it onto a stretcher ready to be taken to a medical facility.