MidKent College Public Services students have been involved in a re-enactment of one of Kent’s biggest road accidents to help train the emergency services.
September 2013 saw hundreds of vehicles collide on the crossing from the Isle of Sheppey to mainland Kent, and the incident was replayed in an exercise at Rochester Airport on Tuesday, to test the efficiency of Kent’s Fire and Rescue Service, as well as the effectiveness of Kent Police Traffic Unit, HART Specialist Team, HEMS Air Ambulance, SECAMB and BAE Systems.
The scenario consisted of a number of vehicles including HGVs that had collided, causing a variety of injuries to multiple casualties who required immediate medical care and extrication from a range of different vehicle types. Approximately 20 vehicles were on the scene including a fully loaded coach with school children, an articulated lorry, and a number of cars, vans and a motorcyclist.
MidKent College students headed to the airport after being made up by the College’s Hair and Media Make-up students before taking their places as victims in the crashed vehicles ready for help. The response teams were then responsible for their rescue and medical treatment, as well as showing their ability to follow all authority procedures, from the 999 call through to evaluation.
Gabriella Falcone, MidKent College’s faculty administrator, said, “it was great to help out and to be asked as it gives the students an insight into services they could be working in.” Her thoughts were echoed by Public Services lecturer James Egan, who agreed, “the day offered a fantastic opportunity for learners to work frontline and see how they deal with emergency situations. They’re "money can’t buy" experiences and it’s great we can offer it to our students.”
Find out more about our Public Services courses, here. You can check out pictures from this event on Facebook.
