Fire Exercise At Hemel's Snow Centre

15 August 2010, 06:00

What happens if someone becomes unconscious 17 metres high about a ski slope?

That’s what employees at the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead recently discovered during a simulation exercise with the fire service and ambulance crews.

Around 20 fire-fighters and 5 paramedics were at the centre simulating an accident that could happen there. It involved a person injured and unconscious lying on the gantry – a 17 metre high level which houses all the essential equipment for running the slope.

A technical team was sent up there to assess the patient and work out the safest way to lower him down so he could be treated.

David Surrey is the Director at the Snow Centre and has been telling Heart:

“Obviously being a ski slope you do get the injuries, fortunately not real serious ones. We’ve got lots of first-aiders here but if it was something a bit more serious then we would call the paramedics in. Anytime we have done that they have responded really quickly.”

“We are carrying out this exercise for the unlikely event that this may happen in the future so we are fully equipped if it does.”

You can see photos of the exercise by clicking below