CIAA commends emergency exercise participants
CIAA’s Andrew McLaughlin (left) with volunteers from the full-scale emergency exercise
(CNS Local Life): The Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) recently presented certificates of commendation and appreciation to volunteers and emergency responders who acted as victims or provided support for the full-scale emergency exercise staged at the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport in Cayman Brac in June.
“In recent years there have been several unthinkable acts against civil aviation around the world,” said Chief Safety Management Officer Andrew McLaughlin in a CIAA press release. “Rather than pretend this could not happen here, the CIAA chose to be proactive and update our response to these types of incidents.”
He added, “The scenarios used in the airport emergency exercises this year were extremely challenging. This is the first time to my knowledge we have presented two separate incidents occurring within minutes of each other. This required all agencies to think on their feet as resources and personnel were stretched to their limits.”
To comply with international standards, the CIAA stages two full-scale emergency exercises every two years in order to test the ability of airport staff and emergency response agencies to work together to form an organised response to save lives and limit damage to property, stated the release.
“I am proud to say that airport personnel and emergency responders maintained focus on the basic skills needed to control both situations and maintain personal safety levels, while responding with the necessary plans and procedures to neutralise both threats,” said McLaughlin.
“At the heart of these exercises are the volunteers, whether acting as victims or Red Cross first aiders. Without them this would not be possible.”
Category: Airport
