Emergency services and partner organisations, led by West Midlands Fire Service, will be taking part in a multi-agency training exercise in the city centre tonight (24/08).
The pre-planned exercise, which will continue into the early hours of Thursday (25/08), will simulate a live accident scenario with multiple casualties, and will involve several emergency response vehicles. People nearby may see smoke, however members of the public are assured there is no need to be concerned about any heightened activity.
Exercise organisers are keen to stress that any unnecessary disturbance and noise will be kept to a minimum. The training session will be completed before 5AM and is not expected to cause any disruption to traffic around the city, however anyone travelling through overnight is reminded that various road closures are in place including on the A38(M) Aston Expressway and through the A38 Queensway and St Chad’s tunnels.
While people are being reassured that this is not a real incident, Emergency services are keen to stress that if anyone is unsure or in doubt about anything they do witness, to report it to emergency services as normal by calling 999.
To ensure the exercise is as realistic as possible, attending crews will not have been briefed on what to expect, so details of the exact location and scenario are not being published until the exercise is underway.
Station Commander Dave Hodgkins, from West Midland Fire Service, said: “It is important that the emergency services, as well as other organisations such as the City Council and the Environment Agency, take part in regular training exercises to test operational responses and policies in large scale accidents and incidents.”
“This evening’s scenario is designed to test a wide range of emergency response skills and resources in an exceptionally challenging environment. The exercise is not in response to any particular concerns around the location selected.”
The agencies involved in the exercise include: West Midlands Fire Service, West Midlands Police, West Midlands Ambulance Service (Hazardous Area Response Team), Birmingham City Council, Amey, the Environment Agency, Central Motorway Police Group, Highways England and Public Health England.
