Emergency services exercise impress

From left, Sergeant Keith Newell, of Queenstown, Fire Service Area Commander Keith McIntosh, of Queenstown, St John Central Otago rural support officer Ron Smiles, Southern District Health Board emergency planner Rosie Simpson, of Dunedin, Sergeant Kate Pirovano, of Queenstown, Sergeant Linda Stevens, of Queenstown, and SDHB emergency management service leader Murray Halbert, of Dunedin. Photo by Tracey Roxburgh.

Inspector Lane Todd said Exercise Devil - which was "reported" at 8.45am - involved police, St John , Fire Service and Southern DHB representatives working together on the incident, with a bit of help from Otago Daily Times staff playing the roles of "dogged reporters".

The exercise involved multiple injuries, fatalities, a fuel leak, a road block, a flight exclusion zone, a temporary triage on State Highway 6 and a base for the injured at the Queenstown Events Centre.

The table-top exercise was a good simulation of many things, Insp Todd said.

"[It was] managing reporting systems, testing media management, testing co-ordinated incident management systems, testing all the agencies are managing the incident in a collaborative approach.

"Overall, I was impressed with the agencies working together, managing the incident as you would expect."

The scenario would change slightly, but would be used at other stations across the southern region before the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Insp Todd said.

"It's not so much the scenario [that's important], it's the procedures they use."