Staged disaster puts emergency responders to the test,
“If you make a mistake today, you can make it in safe environment. And then when something like this happens in real life, you can be ready for it.” SHABEEN HANIFA GREATER TORONTO AIRPORTS AUTHORITY
The first firefighter to arrive at the crash site is quickly surrounded by the walking wounded. Clutching his radio, he issues commands and rallies resources while traversing the north end of Toronto Pearson’s airfield.
A woman extends her arm. Her face is caked with blood.
“Somebody help us. My daughter is hurt,” she yells. “I can’t see. Please.”
“Someone will be with you in a minute,” the firefighter says, eyes fixed forward, scanning the scene. Two plumes of smoke. Several chunks of charred wreckage. Green grass littered with detached arms and legs, too many to count.
In the distance, a column of emergency vehicles with flashing lights and barking horns comes into view through the morning’s shimmering heat haze.
On Saturday, 500 emergency responders, Toronto Pearson employees and security agencies underwent a staged simulation to test their response to an airport’s worst nightmare — the day a jet slams into the ground.
Under Canada’s aviation regulations, airports like Toronto Pearson are required to test their emergency response plans at least once every two years.
Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson Shabeen Hanifa said Pearson’s policy is to conduct a full-scale emergency exercise every year.
“This is about to get very real very quickly,” she said moments before first responders arrived at the crash site. “Volunteers were told to be prepared for anything.”
Make-up artists helped to outfit the actors with realistic injuries.
Hanifa said the simulated wounds are critical to reflect the grim reality in order to ensure emergency workers make the right calls during a real crisis.
“If you make a mistake today, you can make it in safe environment,” she said. “And then when something like this happens in real life, you can be ready for it.”
A year in the making, the daylong emergency simulation involved several public and private agencies, including Europeanbased airline KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and NAV Canada, as well as numerous regional police and paramedic services.
Roughly 400 members of the public volunteered to participate as passengers for the exercise. Acting experience wasn’t required, but each role came with a card listing a character’s name, back-story, symptoms and lines they had to say.
Troy Matthews was one of the early-bird volunteers who arrived at the airport at 4 a.m. for makeup. It took artists the better part of the morning to affix a piece of glass to his skull.
“There are a lot of people here with things protruding from their head,” he said.
Prior to the fire trucks’ arrival, Marissa Hammel and Sara Fiset wandered around the detached tail section of the aircraft while rehearsing their lines and symptoms. Both women had minor cuts and bruises.
“We asked for more blood and guts, but they said no,” said Hammel, who was instructed by organizers to play the role of a “nuisance” victim. Meanwhile, Fiset was supposed to have “found the drink cart” and act accordingly. Her scripted lines included (inappropriate) comments like “cheers” and “rest in peace.”
The exercise kicked-off at 9 a.m. sharp, a start signalled by the crackling of a radio followed by a short series of high-pitched beeps. A voice from airport operations control then stated: “EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE.”
First responders’ boots hit the ground minutes later. They encountered passenger Akhilesh Prasad shaking violently on the ground beside a torn fuselage. Blood was leaking from a gaping hole in the side of his neck, a small chunk of glass still stuck there. In between coughs, the Grade 12 student was garbling his words.
Capt. John Sacco of York Region Paramedic Service said a number of different life-saving techniques can be put to use at such a chaotic scene.
“Paramedics would be performing advanced airway control, chest needles, stopping severe bleeding, administering drugs and pain relief,” he said.
Internal damage is also of concern. Singed nasal hairs, for example, could point to a burned airway or the inhalation of hot and toxic gas.
The results of the exercise were not known by the end of Saturday, but officials are expected to debrief and identify areas where parts of the operation went well and where others need improving.
Staged accident at Pearson designed to test airport’s response to its worst nightmare — the day a jet slams into the ground