Emergency services join forces in Alnwick to sharpen responses to major incidents

Emergency services and partners teamed up in Alnwick.

Led by Northumbria Police, the two-day event in Alnwick also involved Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service, Northumberland County Council, Northumberland Mountain Rescue and representatives from the Environment Agency.

The participants discussed how they would best deal with scenarios such as wide-scale flooding and damaging high winds, as they heard from a number of speakers with vast experience of successfully dealing with major incidents.

Chief Inspector Laura Douglas, who leads Northern Area Command’s team of response officers, said: “We regularly work with our emergency colleagues and this was about honing those skills and testing how we can best come together to protect our communities and, in extreme cases, save lives.

“Only too recently we have seen the impact severe storms can have on our region, particularly in our more rural communities, and should that happen again, we want to ensure that we continue to be best placed to respond to those who really need us.”

She added: “I would like to take this opportunity to praise the hard work and commitment of all those involved.

“The support and assistance of partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors is vital.

“We look forward to continuing working together to best prepare and protect the communities we serve.”

Andrew Miller, representing mountain rescue, said: “As volunteers providing specialist support to the emergency services, it is vital that we undertake joint training.

“This event provided a fantastic opportunity to work with our police colleagues and other responding agencies to plan for future emergencies.”