Emergency exercise conducted at Brac airport
A medical team from Faith Hospital attends to a “victim“ during the exercise
(CNS Local Life): The Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) led an emergency preparedness exercise at the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport on Cayman Brac last week. The simulated emergency comprised a rapidly unfolding terrorist situation involving two vicious thugs, the hijacking of a small commercial flight, shootouts, fatalities and more than 12 people taken as hostages.
Taking part in addition to CIAA personnel were staff from the Cayman Islands Fire Service, Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Customs Department, Department of Immigration, Cayman Airways, Faith Hospital, Cayman Brac Red Cross and Cayman Islands Cadet Corps along with volunteers, including children, as well as observers from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Led by Andrew McLaughlin, CIAA head of safety, the whole exercise unfolded with “military precision”, according to a government press release, which highlighted the skills of all the Brac airport and uniformed emergency personnel.
Shane Bothwell, CIAA head of security, oversaw the airport’s security operations. On Grand Cayman, CIAA officers observed the exercise at the Brac airport in real time via close circuit television.
The exercise was conducted in the evening, after all commercial flight operations had ceased and the airport had officially closed for the day.
“We conduct preparedness exercises regularly both on Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman and we do this to hone our skills and abilities and improve our procedures,” said McLaughlin. “And we do this with as little inconvenience to actual daily users of our airports as possible. We also debrief thoroughly after each exercise to see where our gaps are, and in that case, what we should be doing better.”
Category: Civil Service, Fire Service, Police
