Multi-agency training exercise tests partners incident response preparedness

West Yorkshire Prepared – the Local Resilience Forum for West Yorkshire – brought together partners in a multi-agency training exercise, to help ensure the region is prepared should a major incident occur.

Exercise Dark Day involved all five districts – Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees – the emergency services, and other key partners including British Transport Police, NHS, National Highways, Network Rail and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Based on a fictitious terrorist incident, the exercise aimed to reflect a real emergency scenario as far as practically possible, giving participants the opportunity to test plans, share best practise and identify gaps for future learning.

Temporary Inspector Leah Bell, Manager of West Yorkshire LRF, said: “Exercise Dark Day was really well received by partners, with all key agencies in the region represented. It provided an excellent opportunity for everyone to be in the same room to talk through plans, discuss ideas and identify gaps in knowledge. All our training sessions create an excellent learning environment and provide our partners with the opportunity to share best practice.”

The LRF regularly runs training exercises, which aim to test the region’s resilience when faced with a variety of incidents and emergencies. Scenarios are usually based upon local risks and their purpose is to:

• Test emergency preparedness procedures
• Bring together agencies that would be involved in an incident response
• Train staff, develop key skills and provide practical experience

All exercises also involve a debrief and evaluation to ensure the training remains useful and effective for all involved.

For news and information from West Yorkshire Prepared, visit www.westyorkshireprepared.org.uk or follow us on Facebook (@WYPrepared) or Twitter (@WYRForum).