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Case Studies - Recent Local Exercises

Exercise Underpass - Norland 59

May 2005

The emergency services, the Health Protection Agency, NEXUS (Metro Rapid Transit Operator), North Tyneside Council, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, North Tyneside Primary Care Trust and voluntary agencies participated in a multi-agency tabletop exercise to test the response to a Metro accident on a North Tyneside stretch of the Metro rail line.

Objectives of the exercise:

• to establish relationships between personnel from the emergency services, local authority and representatives from other involved agencies who may be required to work together in close liaison during a Major Rail Incident.

• to encourage co-ordination and co-operation between each organisation at a tactical level in order to enhance preparedness.

• To fully integrate the local authority and health service resources into the overall response.

This exercise was part of the Norland series of exercises which have been running in Tyne and Wear since 1994. The theme of the exercise varies each year and in 2004 centred on a gas explosion in a high rise block of flats. A separate Norland exercise is held in each constituent Council of Tyne and Wear on an annual basis, with the result that five 'Norland' exercises take place each year.

The participation evaluation survey for Exercise Underpass indicated an extremely successful exercise benefiting all of the agencies which participated. Of particular relevance to North Tyneside Council was the need to enhance training of Site Incident Officer Supervisors and to focus operational training on the establishment of Survivor Reception Centres, as outlined in the Emergency Response and Recovery Guidance to the Civil Contingencies Act.

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