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Nanaimo Airport emergency drill deemed a success, but communication could be improved

Oct 21, 2016 | 3:50 PM

NANAIMO — The president of Nanaimo Airport is happy with how a live emergency response drill went on Friday but says communication improvements are required.

Officials staged a plane’s hard landing on Friday morning. Medical treatment was coordinated, the accident scene controlled and environment protected, according to Mike Hooper. He says while overall the drill was executed well, he says radio communication among their multiple agencies needs attention.

“Our first responder team is on their own frequency, what we can do is ensure that we all have the same radio communications and a system to make sure that the communication is seamless between the different agencies as we go forward,” said Hooper.

Several agencies took part in the drill including area fire departments, RCMP, Ambulance Paramedics and on-site air carriers. Hooper says the drill involved a long culvert emulating a plane with sixty people on board.

“What worked really well was the flow of emergency services coming to the airport and attending the people on-site at the accident scene.”

Hooper says they are mandated to conduct table top emergency response drills every two years and live scenarios every four years. However, he says they double the amount required for each exercise.

“Because it’s always good to practice items, whatever comes into play, that we know we’re fully prepared for.”

Hooper says a report on the drill will soon be submitted to Transport Canada to reinforce exactly what improvements are needed at Nanaimo Airport to bolster their emergency response. He calls being prepared for a wide variety of emergency situations “continuous work” that never ends.