A MOCK fire in a plane was the setting of an exercise yesterday aimed at testing emergency response capabilities at Bahrain International Airport.
The crisis simulation was centred on a fire breaking out inside the plane just before take-off leading to different kinds of injuries.
A full-scale emergency alert was activated and teams from the Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) and the Interior Ministry worked in co-ordination to achieve a successful outcome.
Around 180 people, including actors playing the part of injured passengers, eight ambulances and helicopters took part in the drill.
The “injured” were triaged and those who were deemed to have had “serious” injuries were rushed to hospital on ambulances or airlifted by helicopters.
Authorities also tested the response times of the Civil Defence and the co-ordination with the Interior Ministry with regard to emergency situations.
The entire exercise had three phases.
The first was the planning and co-ordination of all the parties involved and getting everyone familiar with the scenario; it took a few months to mobilise all the resources.
The second phase was the actual drill which was held yesterday which would feed into the third phase which is the evaluation of all the feedback, notes and comments that were brought up during the exercise.
“With just months to go until the inauguration of the new Passenger Terminal Building, this was the most significant drill to date,” said BAC chief executive Mohamed Al Binfalah.
“It provided an excellent opportunity for all to test procedures, roles and responsibilities before key changes regarding emergency planning will be implemented through the new terminal’s Operations Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) trials.
“The objective at the end of the day is to continually improve our business.
“In the airport industry things are changing rapidly and the more we hold such exercises the more we co-ordinate and improve our readiness to respond to a real-life accident,” he said.
The operation, which took place at around noon, was a collaborative effort between BAC and national carrier Gulf Air.
This marked the successful conclusion of BIA’s 16th full-scale emergency exercise, demonstrating co-ordination among diverse stakeholders to handle crisis scenarios and the execution of the Airport Emergency Plan.
The bi-annual exercise is in line with regulations issued by Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs and global industry procedures enforced by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Mr Al Binfalah revealed that more drills will be held as the ORAT process proceeds to test the readiness of the new terminal which will house the emergency operations and crisis management centres.
Volunteers
Yesterday’s exercise did not affect the airport’s operations or the movement of aircraft and passengers, according to the BAC.
The GDN reported yesterday that thousands of volunteers will take part in a trial run of the new terminal’s facilities, services and processes to identify any areas of improvement before the complex is officially opened.
The new structure, part of the $1.1 billion Airport Modernisation Programme (AMP), is expected to open in October.
Around 8,400 community volunteers will be able to test the operational readiness of the new terminal building, following the official launch of the ORAT familiarisation programme on Monday.
Under the programme, more than 5,800 stakeholders will also undergo a series of training workshops over the next seven months to ensure they are prepared ahead of the opening.
ghazi@gdn.com.bh
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