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A pilot resilience test event was staged in Dalry on 5th March, organised by the Loch Ken Trust, Dalry Community Council’s resilience team, the Dumfries and Galloway Climate Hub (DGCH), and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, with support from D&G Council’s Resilience Team. Light rain throughout the exercise added a touch of realism.
The staged scenario included a car that had swerved to avoid a falling branch in a storm colliding with a telegraph pole, causing pedestrian, passenger and driver casualties.
The exercise began shortly after 11:00 on Throughgate which was closed for the next hour while the scene played out.
The mock casualties were three adults (one of whom, played by a casualty simulator dummy, was not breathing), a shaken-up child and a dog. Members of the local resilience team took charge of the scene, administered first aid and called on passers-by and spectators to assist where necessary, including fetching the defibrillator from the Town Hall.
After about twenty minutes, the emergency services in the shape of the Fire & Rescue Service and Police arrived on scene and took over. The exercise ended with a demonstration of capabilities by the Fire & Rescue service.
At the debrief, Jenna Cains, from DGCH, said “We created a scenario with similarities to the issues faced by the community during Storm Éowyn, which left parts of the area without power for several days. More such weather events can be expected with changing climate, and the Climate Hub encourage all communities in Dumfries and Galloway to have up to date resilience plans”, a message seconded by the D&G Council Resilience Team itself.
Loch Ken Trust’s resilience work is funded by the National Lottery Awards for All Community Fund and Drax Group (Drax), owners of the Galloway Hydro Scheme. The Climate Ready Glenkens project involves supporting all Glenkens communities with resilience planning.
Head Ranger Leanne Pumpr said, “With extreme weather events on the increase, it is so important that our communities are prepared and know how best they can support themselves until wider help arrives. It was great to see so many members of the community come along and get involved with the test event. A huge thank you to Scottish Fire and Rescue, Police Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway Council Community Resilience and all our fantastic volunteers who made this event a success.”
The test event had a wider message about considering vulnerable people in your community, as well as what local resources can be called upon following an extreme weather event. In the days following. ITV News ran an excellent segment on the event using real life weather damage footage from Dumfries and Galloway from this January alone.
Residents respond to weather event in Dumfries and Galloway – Latest From ITV News
The D&G Climate Hub is funded by Scottish Government’s Let’s Do Net Zero strategy.
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