26 - Emergency rest centre event a big success

 

The Brett Young Day Centre in Halesowen played host to the council’s first ever rest centre training exercise. The centre in Old Hawne Lane is one of around 80 sites earmarked across the borough as potential rest centres to house evacuees should an emergency occur in a nearby area.

 

At the training exercise on Tuesday (June 24) students from Halesowen College joined day centre users to play the role of people evacuated from their homes following a mock emergency in the neighbouring Stourbridge Road.

 

The mock incident involved a man holding four children at gunpoint. The evacuees were given cards instructing them of scenarios and complaints to make to the centre staff.

 

Issues for centre staff dealt with included people in trauma, those who needed medication and people who didn’t speak English and needed interpreters. Staff also dealt with awkward people who complained about the services and refreshments on offer at the rest centre.

 

Staff from the council’s contingency and disaster management team together with the directorate for adult, community and housing services and children’s services were joined by colleagues from the PCT, St John Ambulance, Red Cross and Halesowen College.

 

The four-hour exercise was hailed a big success and will be followed by similar events in the future.

 

“Exercises such as these give staff a rare opportunity to put into practice the theory of how to cope in an emergency situation. It is of course very important that we are prepared for any unforeseen circumstances and I am pleased to see that the rest centre exercise was a success.”