River Rescue Exercise (2017)

A large tree has fallen onto a river cruise boat in this exercise. There are multiple casualties and the only way to access the scene is by river.

First on the scene, around 20 minutes after the 999 call, was a fire service rib. One firefighter boards the cruise boat to triage casualties while his two colleagues search the river for casualties that have fallen overboard.

More emergency services respond to the major incident. Ambulance HART (Hazardous Area Response Team) personnel are joined by more fire and rescue teams as well as dedicated water rescue teams.

Seriously injured members of the public are tended to while uninjured and walking wounded are evacuated using the fleet of small ribs.

A makeshift reception centre is set up a few hundred metres downstream from the incident scene. Casualties are transferred from the boats onto land. It is the nearest road, so all road going emergency vehicles are parked up there.

Fire service vehicles in attendance include rescue pumps, Land Rovers and an incident command unit.

The major exercise attracted media attention, including a film crew who were embedded with the ambulance HART team for a year. Footage was used on the 2018 series ‘999 Rescue Squad’ shown on the W Channel.