Winchester hospital 'dirty bomb' exercise

Winchester hospital 'dirty bomb' exercise

www.bbc.co.uk

Staff at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital have been practising how they would respond if a toxic bomb exploded in Winchester city centre.

A mock major incident was staged earlier to see how the hospital would cope in the event of a disaster.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Never hurts to be prepared! But this exercise comes at a time of high alert amongst authorities, and more than a few references to radiological disasters. So are the two directly related to intelligence of something in the works? Or merely another case of disaster preparation?

2010 saw the biggest emergency planning overhaul in the UK in the form of Operation Orion. This involved incredibly dramatic exercises with alot of the focus on visual realism.

The data from these exercises will be passed on to other hospitals and will most likely go into a continually updated plan of action for extreme cases of terrorism. Like Orion the data may also be shared with the rest of the EU.

Although these exercises are considered essential to emergency services, I question just how effective they are at training first responders, and more importantly preventing wider implications.

As we have seen with the 7/7 bombings, a training exercise was taking place on the actual day of the attacks, and it has taken until now 6 years later for the official inquiry to come to its incredibly weak conclusion.

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Practice makes perfect doesn't mean anything is going to happen ie the American fire brigade have an aide memoir and drills they have to carry out and have had this sum years, it includes one drill and that's training for an hostile alien invasion and it hasn't happened yet.

reply to post by simples

it includes one drill and that's training for an hostile alien invasion and it hasn't happened yet.

You're joking? I would love to volunteer for that. You are right of course practice makes perfect.

This was happening only seven miles from me. I have been away and wish I could have photographed this. Anyhow, nothing really conspiracy orientated happens in Winchester - trust me as I've lived here all my life!

This is all standard procedure. You'd be amazed at what goes on in the emergency management room in Winchester! You can't exactly rig a decontamination tent in A&E!

reply to post by LarryLove

I got asked to attend one in Liverpool. But I was working otherwise I would have definitely went. It was a 'chemical event' or words to that effect. It wasn't part of Orion just a Merseyside county one.

This is what I'm on about check this out.

reply to post by Big Raging Loner


They have been running these for years. 14 years ago, I worked with a girl that ran the administration department in Winchester's Emergency Management Unit.

reply to post by LarryLove


I wonder when the threat of a dirty bomb was first considered? I'm thinking the 80s...

reply to post by simples


After I read your post I Googled it and found UFO crash landing drills in UK schools.

I remember seeing it on here at the time.

Wonders never cease!

reply to post by Big Raging Loner


I'm not sure.. perhaps longer.. the UKs first nuclear test in 1952 condemned "Hurricane" was to test the effects of a nuclear bomb that had been smuggled into port by ship (look at how that fear is still present today)

en.wikipedia.org...

ETA: It has always seemed to me that the UKs testing has been aimed more at weapons effects.. so I guess I feel on this score the UK will be responding to those known effects.

reply to post by thoughtsfull


I had no idea about that. Cheers!

Only two real players with any weapons worth talking about at that point. It's amazing how imaginative Cold War paranoia made folks.

Of course now we have Islamic fundamentalism to fill the fear gap after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Originally posted by Big Raging Loner
reply to post by simples

 

it includes one drill and that's training for an hostile alien invasion and it hasn't happened yet.

You're joking? I would love to volunteer for that. You are right of course practice makes perfect.

Yhea lol - I don't think they have done a real Zombie outbreak test as such yet but it's a good idea, all you are really after is a 'plausible' story that ticks all the requirements for the exercise, it of course has to be fictional and often an element of humor is role'd in to sort of break the ice and get everyone reading from the same page, it never hurts to be creative and what use is an exercise if all the participants are half hearted?

A zombie outbreak for instance is a great disaster hyperthotical, it involves mass movement of people, all the emergency services, panic and system failures - actually I can seriously see a 'zombie' type exercise sometime in the future.

reply to post by Now_Then


I think there were actually a few 'scientists' in the US who plotted the course of a zombie outbreak. Nothing better to do obviously. Although it would be fun if that was your paid research.