PICTURES: Dramatic scenes as 'major incident' exercise involving Carlow students takes place

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A 'major incident' exercise involving students from paramedics, medicine and nursing, and personnel from the emergency services, was staged at University of Limerick this Thursday. A class of students from Carlow Institute of Further Education were present as part of the work for their own area of study in Special Effects Makeup.

The immersive simulation, the largest of its kind ever to take place in Ireland, was designed to prepare both students and professionals for a multi-casualty, major incident where an interprofessional response is required across multiple agencies.

Members of Limerick Fire and Rescue Service, National Ambulance Service (NAS), Explosive Ordnance Division (EOD) of the Irish Defence Forces (bomb squad), An Garda Siochána Armed Support Unit, and Limerick Civil Defence were also involved in this highly realistic operation.

The extremely dramatic and realistic scenario that played out on the North Campus Plaza in UL involved a car crashing into a substantial crowd of people. The driver remained trapped in the car, but the front-seat passenger exited the car with a handgun and what looked like an explosive device.

After he dropped the device, he fired shots at several bystanders before escaping to the River Shannon. There he was picked up by Civil Defence’s Swift Water Rescue team and the Armed Support Unit.

At the same time, the backseat passenger of the car approached the crowd wielding a machete. He ‘injured’ a number of people before the crowd overpowered him and held him until the Armed Support Unit arrested him and made the machete safe. The Explosive Ordnance Division of the Defence Forces then arrived to deal with the ‘device’.

UL paramedics, nursing and medical students were tasked with managing the scene and providing emergency assistance to those involved. There was a large number of people in the incident area with various levels of injury and in various levels of distress.

The UL students, while aware the exercise would take place today, were unaware as to what the scene would entail and so were reacting to the exercise as it unfolded.

PICTURES: Brian Arthur