All hands on deck for emergency exercise

Published on 30 July 2019

If you see smoke and large numbers of emergency vehicles at Taree's Manning Regional Airport on Saturday 10 August, don’t be alarmed, it’s all part of a mandatory, planned emergency response training exercise.

This type of training exercise happens every two years and is designed to ensure emergency services can respond and are well prepared for any event at the Airport.

The exercise will include local teams from the NSW Police Services, Fire and Rescue NSW, Ambulance, Rural Fire Service, SES and MidCoast Council.

Conducting emergency exercises is a requirement of registration for public airports, and this opportunity is valuable for all local emergency services, according to MidCoast Council's Executive Coordinator & Local Emergency Management Officer, Andrew Blatch.

"Practical exercises are the best way for emergency teams and other stakeholders, to get first-hand experience, in live conditions during these events,” said Andrew.

On Saturday, emergency services will convene at the Manning Visitor Information Centre on Manning Drive, where they will be briefed on the planned scenario.

They will then proceed to the airport as if it was a real emergency call out, where agencies will respond to potential patients and other situations common with an aeronautical incident.

"After the event there is a debrief session which usually provides some points for fine-tuning for our local emergency agencies," explained Andrew.

The emergency exercises are held on weekends, so that volunteer rescue personnel can also be involved in these worthwhile events.

Signage will be placed on roads surrounding the Airport to inform road users that an exercise is underway.

The exercise should be completed around lunch time.