Huron County emergency crews hold first ever ‘mass casualty’ emergency exercise

A school bus has collided with a car setting it ablaze. The drivers are dead, and children are trapped and injured on the bus. That’s the scenario facing about 30 Huron County volunteer firefighters and paramedics at a mass casualty scenario in Blyth.

“So the importance of this is just being prepared for any emergency that comes our way. A big part of being in the emergency world, is being prepared for what comes next,” said Huron County Emergency Manager Chad Kregar, who also serves as North Huron’s Fire Chief.

Co-operation is the end goal of this exercise, taking place over three days this week at the North Huron fire training grounds.

Firefighters and paramedics from across Huron County do their first collaborative emergency exercise, simulating an overturned bus, leading to a “mass casualty” event in Blyth, September 25, 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“The worst place they say to trade business cards is at a scene like this. So make those connections and acquaintances at a scene like this where it’s controlled [or] semi controlled – because in the dark on the side of the road is not the place to make those initial contacts, for sure,” said Huron Paramedic Services Deputy Chief, Dave Campbell.

And while this scenario seems far fetched, something similar happened last winter just a few concessions away near Wingham, when a school bus carrying students left a slippery side road, injuring several people on board.

“It absolutely can happen. Not every day, but we want to be as prepared as we can. Got some good education on the busses themselves, because we’re not dealing with them every day. But, yeah, you’ll see this kind of event on whatever scale happening on any roadside, any week or weekend,” said Campbell.

Firefighters and paramedics from across Huron County do their first collaborative emergency exercise, simulating an overturned bus, leading to a “mass casualty” event in Blyth, September 25, 2024 (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

“Yeah, things can change in a blink of an eye. So, we just like to be prepared, and it’s a great training day for everybody involved,” said Kregar.

While there’s plenty of mandated emergency exercises that happen across Ontario each year, this is an extra disaster scenario, instigated by Huron County’s paramedics and volunteer fire crews.

“This actually is the first one we’ve ever done. So hopefully moving forward we can do them [more consistently], and keep that team building alive,” said Kregar.