Multi-agency ‘chemical response’ exercise taking place at Dreamland

Emergency services exercise at Dreamland Photo Stefan Costen

Firefighters, police, paramedics, and event organisers will unite to test their skills and procedures in the event of a major incident at Dreamland, in Margate.

More than 200 people and emergency vehicles will be at the attraction in Marine Terrace today (5 June), to take part in the training exercise organised by Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS).

The scenario will focus on a music event at the venue, with a fictitious crowd of around 6,500 people being exposed to a potentially harmful chemical.

The staged exercise will allow each blue light service to practice their response and for partner organisations to trial their own procedures, including event security and communicating with the public.

KFRS’ main role will be assisting with mass decontamination, with operational crews building shower units and guiding the public through the process, but the exercise will also include fire control operators who will take the initial 999 call, volunteers, and other teams within the service.

Brennan Ralls, Crew Manager at Margate fire station, said: “This exercise is great opportunity to work together with our partners and colleagues, to ensure we are always prepared to respond to any emergency.

“We’re likely to be at the venue for most of the day, so we’d also like to reassure the public, particularly people who live and work near to Dreamland, that this is purely an exercise and not to be alarmed by our presence.

“We’d be grateful if people could share this message with anyone in the area, who might not have access to the internet or social media, thank you.”

Head of Operations at Dreamland Margate, Shane Guy, said: “Dreamland is delighted to be working with the emergency services and supporting agencies to deliver real time training for a major incident. Our staff and management team, together with our partners, will all benefit from this important exercise.”

SECAmb’s Head of Resilience and Specialist Operations, Dave Williams, said: “It is vital that we participate in exercises such as this so we can test and learn from our response.

“It will offer our commanders and specialist teams opportunities to hone their skills, as well as building on non-specialist responders’ experience of simulated events.

“It provides the perfect opportunity for our teams to work alongside our partner organisations, and, under exercise conditions, experience how each organisation works so that we ready and prepared to respond in the event of a real incident.”

The exercise is due to take place for most of the day.

25 Comments

  1. And when in the entirety of the last century, even during the I.R.A. bombing campaign has any such thing happened at Dreamland?
    More Operation Fear!🤬
    A false flag is the only thing that MIGHT happen there.

    • Presumably they’re doing it at Dreamland because the site is the sort of place they want as a practice ground.

    • Harry – it’s a practise location providing space for various agency’s to work together for planning etc! You want ti read posting#

    • Yep I await the false flag Harry – but those walking along with their head bent staring at their mobile phones might not even notice until the report pings up.

      • And that would simply be Darwin’s theory in action.
        During the early 1980’s I shared a house with a girl from a Catholic home in Derry & a girl from a Protestant home in Armagh. They’d met at uni. over here and we’re best friends. They couldn’t believe the complacency of English people regarding discarded bags, etc.
        I’m not saying “Kill all the stupid people!” Just, remove all the warning labels, nannying and nursemaiding and let Nature take its course. We would probably end up with a happier and healthier population. Just remember that the medical profession and police rely upon sick people and criminals for their livings!😉

  2. Many years ago I was employed in what was an extremely hazardous occupation.
    Every week we held drills, working through various scenarios, involving different levels of disaster, equipment failure and demise of key workers.
    Just as well, because one day the alarms went off, and the Tannoy announced “This is not a drill …”
    Without a sign of panic, everyone went to his or her emergency station, and began the drills.
    Fortunately, it turned out to be a faulty temperature sensor, and all was well.
    How different an outcome if it had been a real emergency, and folk were turning around like headless chickens.
    Well done to the Emergency Services. Today’s simulation will be time we’ll spent.

  3. This sounds more like an exercise for a terrorist incident, like that at the Ariana Grande bomb attack. Its a bit late though, that was 6 years ago, in May 2017, and the emergency services did not perform well, sitting outside the arena for 2 hours, while people died!

    • What happened in Manchester is no reason to let things stay as there were. Rather it’s an imperative that more multi-agency exercises should take place, to minimise the likelihood of any such thing ever happening again.

      • My point Andrew, was why has it taken so long for this exercise to happen! It should take place every year, having started from 2018!

        • Dreamland is an unusual place that would have a large amount of people. And it’s a place that would accommodate the equipment and vehicles and as for Manchester, exercises have taken place nationally since.

        • See my post of today above confirming this exercise is being carried out in Manchester too, following “recommendations made after the public inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack in 2017”.Thats according to my newspaper. A bit late then isn’t it, six years late in fact!

    • Looks like Nudge Unit’s Andrew is back on duty.🤣🤣🤣
      Like I said before. The I R.A. didn’t. The Angry Brigade didn’t. Nobody ever has
      It’s just Operation Fear… Episode 378.🙄

  4. It’s a training exercise. The negative comments on here have just hit an all time low. Amazing!
    I hope that should I or anybody that may ever need the help of any emergency service for whatever reason, that the personal will have had any training that they need.

  5. People in the comments removing all doubt of their stupidity.

    There is nothing wrong with training exercises like this.

  6. play time for the services , like when they tear about blasting thier sirens when theres no need for it at all

  7. I remember working down Dreamland in the late 80’s and they had a few of these types of drills including practice bomb alerts. Got to say that the fire crews and the other emergency services involved were really impressive, highly professional and worked like a well oiled machine.

  8. With the US supplying F16’s and the UK supplying long range missiles to Ukraine,
    I would think we are most definitely on Russia’s hit list.
    Remember Salisbury where the ‘Novichok’ nerve agent was used on a Russian double agent & his daughter? imagine that on a much grander scale.
    Oh and the emergency alert test we all got on our phones a while back – something is brewing ‘Top Secret’ don’t wanna panic the public do we.

    • The Emergency Alert scheme using mobile phones is one in use by many countries.
      We used to have sirens – and not just for air raids. In London, until the Thames Barrier was built, we used to have flood alert sirens.

    • Yes novichock give it a foreign name and hey presto .But this was portland down the most deadly laboratories in the UK Strange I thought

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