'Major incident' exercise to take place at Poole Hospital on Friday 11 February
The training exercise will involve the erection of tents outside the Hospital's Emergency Department
A training exercise will take place at Poole Hospital on Friday 11 February to test the hospital’s plans for dealing with casualties resulting from a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) incident.
Training exercises such as this are carried out regularly by hospitals and other services to ensure they have effective plans in place for dealing with major emergencies such as road traffic accidents, chemical spills or explosions.
The exercise will involve the erection of two tents outside the hospital’s Emergency Department, but the Emergency Department and all other hospital departments will continue to provide a normal service to patients throughout the exercise. Access for vehicles to the main entrance will be temporarily restricted, but staff will be on-hand to provide assistance and redirect people as needed.
Chris Bailey, Operations Manager for Poole Hospital, said: “Like all hospitals, we regularly test our plans for responding to major incidents to ensure we are properly prepared to care for patients should such an event arise.
“If you are visiting Poole Hospital this Friday or passing by the main entrance, please don’t be alarmed if you see anything unusual taking place in or around the Emergency Department – it is likely to be part of the exercise, and hospital services will continue as normal throughout.”
Date: 10 February 2011