Two engines from Scunthorpe attended an exercise at Keadby Power Station on the bank of the River Trent today.
Exercise Phoenix was carried out at SSE's Keadby Power Station and allowed emergency crews to work with on-site safety personnel to respond to a fair and realistic scenario at the large site.
Site evacuation procedures were carried out immediately after the initial incident was reported and fire crews from Scunthorpe soon arrived to carry out the response and recover the 'casualties' into the care of EMAS paramedics and the virtual Air Ambulance which 'landed' a short time later. Watch Manager Martin Rodgers and Station Manager Phil Duckles oversaw the incident and the complex rescue of the 'casualties'.
Humberside Police and Police Scotland were involved to practice the communication arrangements following an emergency. SSE coroporate functions were also tested to the full in the Silver Command Centre which was set up in the boardroom. Connection with Gold Command at the SSE headquarters in Perth, Scotland was soon made.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service exercise co-ordinator Tim Theaker was really pleased with how the day went:
"It's important for us to train in realistic scenarios and to spend the morning with SSE staff at Keadby was beneficial to all involved. It allows us to get a feel for their on-site procedures and see the layout of the plant for real rather than just on a plan.
The knock on effects of this incident allowed HR and Corporate Affairs teams from SSE to test their emergency plans with valuable assistance from Humberside Police and our own media manager."
Chris Pedley, Loss Prevention Engineer at SSE’s Keadby Power Station was equally positive about how the day went:
“Safety is SSE’s core value and we carry out regular training exercises across our sites. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the emergency services during these exercises, which helps us to ensure that our staff and procedures are tested rigorously and that we are as prepared as possible for a wide variety of potential incidents.”