By Sam Borsato - @BorsatoSam on Twitter

Mock Emergency Puts First Responders to the Test

May 31, 2016 | 1:38 PM

LETHBRIDGE – All types of first responders got hands-on in one of Lethbridge’s largest mock emergency disasters.

The scene involved a 10 passenger plane that crashed into a city transit bus and two other cars along the northern part of University Drive, after experiencing engine problems.

Fire and EMS were first on scene to secure those injured. Fifteen actors were put into costume makeup to simulate different injuries. They were triaged on-site, then transferred to Chinook Regional Hospital by Alberta Health Services.

Roy Pollmuller, Lethbridge’s Deputy Fire Chief, says participants from the Fire Department responded very well.

“Even though it’s somewhat rehearsed and it is an exercise, we have some critical benchmarks. One of them was that the most critically injured patients were transported to ambulances and headed to the hospital within 21 minutes. That speaks well to that ability to assess multiple casualties.”

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More staff at the hospital continued with the scene, putting their mass casualty protocols to work.

After all victims were cleared, police moved in to process the crime scene.

“This type of exercise gives not only the first response a great training experience, as far as how police and fire manage the type of incident. But once that initial response is concluded, it allows our Forensic Identification Unit to practice their skills,” noted Wade Davidson, Sergeant of the LPS Traffic Unit.

Well over 50 emergency responders from 22 different agencies as far away as Ontario participated.

The scene will remain setup along University Drive until June 3. Police and Canadian Armed Forces will conduct a search on June 1, recovering personal belongings of the “casualties”.

Another similar exercise will be held between June 2 and 3 involving other regional municipalities who didn’t take part in this initial event.