Full-scale mock emergency response exercise held at YYC
Posted Sep 7, 2017 10:56 am.
Last Updated Sep 7, 2017 11:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There were sirens and flashing lights at YYC Calgary International Airport Thursday morning, but thankfully not for a real emergency.
The airport held a full-scale mock emergency response exercise put on by the Calgary Airport Authority.
The simulated aircraft incident featured several Calgary responders, including Alberta Health Services, the Calgary Fire Department, Calgary Police Service, Emergency Medical Services, Canada Border Services Agency, Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, Transportation Safety Board, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with 75 volunteers within the airport community.
The goal of the exercise was to enhance coordination and communication between all of the responding branches.
“Today’s really about practice,” Jody Moseley with the Calgary Airport Authority told media at the site. “It’s really an opportunity to take well-established procedures that we have and work with our partners to make sure everything works well.”
“But, I think more importantly, what’s not working well and what are the improvements we need to make to make sure that we are ready for any situation.”
CPS Insp. Steve Ellison said their goal was to enhance response times and work on their partnerships with other agencies.
“This is the way that we become effective with our resources, practice our responses and make sure that we provide the best possible safety response for our citizens and the customers, here, at YYC,” he said.
EMS Spokesperson Stuart Brideaux said it’s another opportunity for EMS to work on their on procedures and protocols.
“We can test how our response would be in real time, in real life, to an incident of this nature,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to try and apply a sort of command structure, or bring some organization to what can otherwise be a very disorganized or almost chaotic event in the early phases, at any rate.”
Volunteers from the airport community played the role of passengers, and greeters at the Domestic Terminal.
