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June 5, 2023Kathy BailesNews19

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.