Emergency Planning day for Venture Ferry
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Limavady Mayor Councillor Brenda Chivers is pictured with Limavady Borough Council Chief Executive Liam Flanigan; Seamus Neely, Director of Donegal County Council; Joan McCaffrey, emergency planner; and Adrian McAuley, emergency planner.
EMERGENCY Services from both sides of the border have recently forged new links in the field of Emergency Planning.
Organisations including the Western Health and Social Service Board, Health Services Executive, Limavady Borough Council, Donegal County Council, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Irish Coastguard, Police Service for NI, Garda Siochana, the NI Ambulance Service, NI Fire and Rescue Service and Donegal Fire Service conducted an exercise at Drummond Hotel, Ballykelly to test their response plans for an incident occurring on the Foyle Venture Ferry which operates between Magilligan and Greencastle.
The exercise was preceded by an information seminar, on the day, in which participating emergency services detailed how their organisation would respond to this type of cross border incident.
Mr Liam Flanigan, Chief Executive Officer, Limavady Borough Council explained: "Lough Foyle is one of the busiest ports in Northern Ireland. This exercise provided the Council, the Western Health and Social Services Board and all the other participating emergency services, on both sides of Lough Foyle, with an excellent opportunity to work together on an issue of mutual benefit. The involvement of the emergency services and our colleagues from the neighbouring councils in the Irish Republic contributed to the overall success of the exercise."
The exercise entitled 'Exercise Foyle Venture' was conducted in a table top format. Participants from each organisation were given initial details of the emergency, additional information was provided as the incident developed. Each service reported on how they would respond to the incident and, crucially, how they would co-operate with other services.
A participating delegate stated: '"Both myself and my officers have learned valuable lessons from this exercise. We have made very important contacts with our Republic of Ireland colleagues, consolidating current practices, and opening the door for further enhanced co-operation going forward."
The establishment of tactical level command, control and communication networks, between the agencies and, in particular cross-border, was an integral component of the exercise. Other central themes gave consideration to deteriorating weather conditions, setting up support centres, media liaison and dealing with the aftermath of the incident. Existing emergency plans of all participating services were validated as part of the exercise."
Inspector Tony Callaghan, Limavady PSNI said: "Emergency planning events like this are vital as they allow officers to test their responses, identify areas where improvements need to be made and strengthen partnerships with our emergency service colleagues and other agencies."
Congratulating the organisers of the event, Gordon Munro, Sector Manager with the Maritime and Coastguard said: "Today highlighted important areas of cooperation between Cross-border Emergency and Rescue Services.
“It is expected that this event will establish an enhanced ongoing working relationship with responders on a cross border basis, building on current work practices and also provide an impetus to share best practice to enable the co ordination of cross border emergency management."
