USAR team celebrates hosting National Assurance Exercise at new training facility

Friday, 24 March 2023 09:05

Firefighters from Aylesbury have completed a two-day simulation rescue exercise.

The Urban Search and Rescue Crew showed off their skills in planning, preparing and hosting a simulated complex rescue exercise, when they welcomed more than 150 operational staff to their new dedicated training site at Westcott.

Code named Exercise Banjo the 30-hour event was rolled out over two days. It involved a mid-air collision between two aircraft with the wreckage landing on a school.

Operational staff were supported by Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service colleagues, and emergency service partners, as the scenario built from initial incident response into a protracted multi-agency rescue and recovery scenario.

USAR Watch Commander and Canine Handler, Alan Still, planned and led the scenario build at the Aylesbury Team’s training site at Westcott Venture Park (WVP). Alan said:“It takes a fair bit of work behind the scenes to ensure we can deliver a scenario that maximises the realism and complexity for the crews who will be attending.

“Planning and preparation started in October 2022 and involved close collaboration between all of the Zone 2 USAR teams, the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), Thames Valley Police, Disaster Victim Identification (DVI), Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Council Emergency Planning Officers, Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) and WVP, with Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service taking the lead role throughout.”