The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT), Avon Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Police and multiagency Local Resilience Forum partners will be taking part in a major incident training exercise in Bristol tomorrow (Thursday, 14th September) between 9am – 4pm.

The training exercise is being run by SWASFT and will take place in north Bristol. It will involve multiple resources and members of the public shouldn’t be alarmed if they see a larger than usual emergency services presence in the area on the day. Wayne Darch, Deputy Director of Operations at SWASFT, said: “In the event of a major incident, we have clear processes and plans in place to help protect and care for our communities. “Being able to test and exercise our response plans allows us to increase our preparedness for any major incident. It also provides an excellent opportunity to work alongside other emergency services and partner organisations. “We would like to reassure people that during this exercise we will continue to respond to 999 calls as usual and people should still call us in a life-threatening emergency.”

In a life-threatening emergency, dial 999 and request an ambulance. For non-life-threatening emergencies, people can access appropriate care by visiting NHS 111 online, contacting their GP or getting advice from a pharmacy.