Royal Surrey to be part of Guildford exercise to test major incident response | News

Royal Surrey is teaming up with local emergency service partners and other local agencies to test the response to a major incident.

The public should be aware and not alarmed by the ‘live-play’ Exercise Comet, which will take place close to Guildford railway station on 11 July from 10am until 2.30pm.

The exercise will mean a large emergency service presence in the area with around 300 responders attending to around 100 casualty actors, provided by the Casualties Union.

Some of the actors will make their way to Royal Surrey Hospital during the exercise, so patients and visitors should not be alarmed if they see them arriving. The Trust has carefully planned for the exercise to make sure that it does not affect the care of patients on the hospital wards or in its Emergency Department (A&E).

The exercise will involve partners from the Surrey Local Resilience Forum (SLRF) testing their plans and multi-agency incident response. Joining Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust are Surrey Police, British Transport Police, Surrey Fire and Rescue, Network Rail, Surrey County Council, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb), Guildford Borough Council, Environment Agency, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, South Western Railway, Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast, the Rail Delivery Group and Surrey 4x4 Volunteers.

The Surrey Local Resilience Forum (LRF) is a collaborative partnership involving local emergency services, councils, health and other partners, all working together to ensure Surrey is well-prepared for emergencies.

Surrey LRF's role is to plan and prepare for local emergencies. It identifies potential risks, specific to Surrey, and produces plans to either prevent or mitigate the impact of any incident on communities. You can find a list of risks within Surrey and how you can ensure you can prepare for any future emergencies, by visiting Surrey County Council website.