Antrim Area Hospital takes part in Major Incident Exercise

In order to be prepared for the unexpected the Northern Health and Social Care Trust proactively plan and prepare for any incident that may result in large numbers of casualties. Extensive pre-planning is undertaken by all Departments within the Trust likely to be involved in a major incident. The Trust actively involves and liaises with other organisations and external agencies to ensure a multi-agency response to any major incident.

The Trust recently took part in a large scale Major Incident Exercise. The exercise involved staff from Antrim Area Hospital and representatives from external agencies which included the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI), Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) and Belfast International Airport.

The scenario for the exercise was a plane crash at Belfast International Airport. A major incident was declared and the aim of the exercise was to test the responses of all agencies involved in the major incident.

Kellie Liddy, Northern Health and Social Care Trust, Emergency Planning & Business Continuity Manager said:
“An essential part of the planning process is making sure that the major incident plan will work. We need to examine the structures we have in place to ensure they will be able to respond appropriately in a real major incident.

“This is why we develop different scenarios to help update the plan; to keep it current and responsive to a range of situations.”

“The exercise proved to be a success and feedback from Trust staff and the external agencies involved has been positive”.

“I would like to express my thanks to all who assisted with the planning of the exercise, and to all those who participated on the day”.

John Doran, Belfast International Airport, Managing Director, said, “ This emergency training exercise gave us an excellent opportunity to not only test our own plans and procedures but it also enabled us to work together with our colleagues in Police, Fire, Ambulance and Health. The exercise presented a challenge everyone hopes will never materialise, but we can be confident we have the plans and procedures in place to deal with such an emergency situation.”

In previous years the Northern Trust has participated in a number of major incident exercises involving staff from Antrim and Causeway Hospitals and community support staff. These have included a large road traffic accident and a bomb incident in Portrush.

26th March 2014