If you see what looks like a mass emergency of some kind at the airport this afternoon, it’s probably not what it looks like.
Police, fire and ambulance crews will be at the Campbell River Airport this afternoon for a simulated emergency exercise, but the city says airport terminal operations and public parking will be unaffected during the exercise.
Fire personnel and the Strathcona Regional District developed the two-hour exercise to test airport systems and operations to ensure they meet Transport Canada’s regulations for emergency procedures.
The exercise will be based on notification from an airline that an inbound flight to Campbell River requires evacuation, passenger containment, security inspection and investigation.
The exercise will start with a test call to 9-1-1 at approximately 1 p.m. Once the 9-1-1 call is made RCMP, B.C. Ambulance and Campbell River fire crews will respond (without lights and siren) and set up at the airport. Airline and airport employees will also take part in the exercise, but no aircraft or actors will be involved.
The emergency responders will carry out the actions, functions and responsibilities that would be expected of them during an actual emergency. The exercise will focus on emergency crews setting up for an aircraft evacuation and establishing command, standby and passenger holding areas to respond to the simulated emergency.
During the exercise, City staff will also be reviewing communications procedures to test systems to notify community members in the event of an emergency.
