Emergency crews work together in tricky location
the exercise to evaluate how we did things and provide feedback at the debrief.”
Ricky Stroud is the station manager at Blairgowrie.
He said: “The aim of the exercise is to test how the units respond to a simulated incident.
“We have had various incidents throughout the area that have involved joint service responses and the debriefs identified a need for working together.
“That’s an ongoing process and this exercise is part of that.”
Station manager at Perth, Scott Gibson, added: “This was a great example of multiagency working allowing staff to practice techniques in a realistic environment.
“It’s an invaluable opportunity to familiarise ourselves with each other’s working practices which will benefit all the organisations should such an incident occur for real.
“I would like to say a big thank you to all those involved for taking part and the organisers for the implementation of this exercise.”
Sergeant David Kerr is from Police Scotland’s emergency and resilience planning team in Dundee and was one of those involved in the operation.
He said: “This exercise is one part of an ongoing programme of multi-agency training currently taking place across Tayside designed to enhance the already excellent working relationships between the emergency services and the voluntary sector.
“It also provides an opportunity for incident commanders from the different agencies to gain a good understanding of each others collective capabilities and working practices, all with a view to the continuous improvement of rescue responses in Tayside.”
Also observing the exercise was Ian Richards, chair of Blairgowrie and Rattray Community Council and part of the community council’s resilience group.
He commented: “It was very reassuring to see the different emergency services working together and very impressive to see the coordination involved in responding to a situation.
“The cooperation of the different agencies all working towards the evacuation of a casualty from the gorge was great to see.”
• Pics: Clare Damodaran.