New Territories North (NTN) Regional Headquarters recently played host to an inter-departmental experience sharing session on the emergency services' response to a mass casualty road incident. The daylong session, held on August 18, saw participants from the Hospital Authority and Fire and Ambulance Services being joined by representatives from all NTN formations and observers from all the other major land Formations.

NTN Regional Commander Cheung Siu-wah opened the session with an introduction of the objectives, noting that whilst the tragic accident in Nam Bin Wai on May 1 last year was the catalyst for the session, the session was organised in line with the Strategic Direction to Support Frontline Units.

Welcoming the participants, Mr Cheung said: "I hope that in gathering here today we can achieve our joint objectives of getting to know one another better and becoming more familiar with different departmental response plans. Attaining these objectives can only improve our ability to effectively handle emergency incidents as commanders of first responders to the incidents."

The morning session comprised a series of presentations given by officers from Traffic Kowloon East on their experiences of dealing with the Nam Bin Wai accident; Superintendent Operations (PHQ) Sammy Wong on the Force's response to major incidents and disasters, and representatives from the Hospital Authority and Fire and Ambulance Services on their response plans. The presentations gave a good overview of the "field response" to a major incident and provoked a good discussion on, and greater understanding of, the inter-operability of the various plans.

Following a buffet curry lunch during which all participants further mixed and discussed the issues in a less formal setting, the day was rounded off with two tabletop exercises based on scenarios involving traffic accidents on a strategic road network that had resulted in mass casualties and required a multi-agency response. The scenarios prompted the participants to consider not only their own responses but also communication and co-operation with other emergency services both at the scene and higher command levels.

Wrapping up the day, NTN Deputy Regional Commander Peter Hunt thanked all who were present for their frank, open and constructive comments that had fostered a better understanding and appreciation of both the needs of various emergency services and the need to carefully integrate all responses.

Noting that the day's objectives had been achieved, Mr Hunt said: "I'm sure all of us have learned a lot about what it will take to make a major incident response really work. For me, being able to put a face to a name and knowing more about what that name wants mean that I will, at my level, be able to offer a greater support to the first responders at the incident location. This exercise is something that we will build on in the future to ensure we look for continuous improvement."

A written report of the day's proceedings, copies of the presentations and recommendations for the way forward is now being prepared and will shortly be circulated to all participants for future reference.

The departmental sharing session in progress