Newport emergency services take part in major incident exercise

Emergency services in South Wales have been taking part in live-play exercises to test their preparedness for terrorism incidents.

Gwent Police, West Midlands Police, CTPHQ, CTP Wales, CTP West Midlands, South Wales Fire & Rescue Service, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, St Johns Ambulance and Welsh Government all took part in the two-day exercise which involved around 300 people including volunteers and members of the public.

Counter Terror Policing stressed that the exercise was not in response to any specific threat or intelligence but is part of Counter Terrorism Policing’s regular testing and exercising programme.

The training focused on a scenario involving a terrorist attack at a music event at Newport International Sports Village.

Gwent Police Assistant Chief Constable, Mark Hobrough, said: “This was a welcome opportunity for Gwent Police to take place and support in a national CT exercise alongside our emergency services.

“We take exercises such as this very seriously in order to test our plans and ensure we are as prepared as possible in the event of a large-scale emergency.”

"Preparation like this is vital to ensuring we can continue to help keep communities safe.”
Firefighters carrying out a patient from the exercise.

CTP Wales Assistant Chief Constable, Wendy Gunney, said: “This exercise provides us with the opportunity to test our plans and ensure that across policing, our ability to respond to these incidents is tried and tested.

“There is no current specific threat to Wales but we know that terror attacks could happen anywhere and at any time. We must be well prepared for that eventuality. This event was an opportunity for all agencies involved to work together collaboratively to test our response.

“These types of incidents can often present a complex picture in the initial stages, I’m grateful for the time, hard work and effort our officers and staff have put aside for this exercise, alongside our blue-light partners.”

Image by dagmarbendel from Pixabay