Emergency Services Put To The Test For Games

A large scale exercise is being staged today to see how the emergency services will need to react to a terrorist incident during the London 2012 Games.

Lessons learned from the July 7 bombings will be incorporated in to the two-day trial - dubbed Forward Defensive - in central London.

The disused Aldwych underground station, near the Royal Courts of Justice, will be the scene of a mock attack on the Tube network.

Most of the action is taking place behind closed doors but passers-by will be able to witness "casualties" being brought up to the surface and treated by medics.

The two-day event will be staged as if it were August 8 and 9, which are expected to be two of the busiest days in London during the Olympics.

It will involve around 2,500 people from police, fire and ambulance staff to government agencies, Olympic chiefs and ministers.

National Olympic Security Coordinator, Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, said: "Testing and exercising is vital to getting our safety and security operations for the Games right.

"We need to be confident that we have the right people in the right places, that we understand how others operate and that we are talking to each other at the right levels and in the right way.

"This is part of series of exercises which we have run in the lead up to the Games, but this is the first with such a significant response from the emergency services on the ground.

"The initial incident will test the tactical response including evacuation the station, rescuing injured people and managing the crime scene.

"The exercise will go on to test how senior decision makers manage the impact of the incident, the investigation to catch those responsible and a range of issues such as travel disruption."

Last year, an inquest into the 52 victims of the 2005 attacks made a series of recommendations, including training in emergency situations for frontline staff.

"We're seeking to learn from any experience that we can take as well as applying the lessons of the past," Security Minister James Brokenshire said.

The UK is on its third-highest alert level of "substantial", meaning a terrorism attack is a strong possibility.

This will almost certainly be raised to "severe", indicating an attack is highly likely, by the time the Games begin.

However, Mr Brokenshire stressed there was nothing to suggest any groups were planning to target the event.

"It's important to say this exercise is not based on evidence of a specific threat," he said.

"It's ensuring that we're testing, that we're really stretching our preparations as much as possible so when it comes to Games time, we're as ready as we can be."

Some 13,500 troops will be involved in the £1bn security operation for the Olympics, up to 2,000 of them reservists. The Games will run from July 27 to August 12.