Emergency services train for major summer’s day incident at busy beach

The annual operation involving the local council and emergency services took place at Camber Sands in East Sussex.

Lifeguards practise their skills on an actor during a multi-agency exercise to test emergency response at Camber Sands (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

Emergency services tested out their response to the scenario of a major incident taking place on a busy summer’s day at a Sussex beach on Thursday.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb), Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Rother District Council, HM Coastguard and RNLI lifeguards carried out the annual training exercise on the sand dunes of Camber Sands, near Rye, East Sussex.

Every year the training between agencies takes place under Operation Radcott, an initiative which aims to keep visitors and beachgoers safe at the popular coastal spot.

The mock run was based around a busy summer’s day where a number of people were injured and needed emergency treatment.

Martin Watson, of SECAmb’s East Sussex operating unit, said: “While we work with our Operation Radcott partners on a regular basis, this exercise provides us with the opportunity to test and learn from our plans in a safe environment.

The paramedic and operational team leader added: “Our teams have the opportunity to hone their skills and each organisation can better familiarise itself with how other teams work so that we are all ready and prepared to respond in the event of a real incident.”