999 teams tested at Hull stadium

Emergency services rehearsed dealing with a chemical release

Humberside's emergency services were put to the test on Saturday when an exercise simulating a chemical release was staged at Hull's KC Stadium.

Police, fire, ambulance and hospitals were involved in the exercise which involved the evacuation of the stadium and hundreds of volunteers.

So-called "lockdown" procedures at the stadium were rehearsed, along with crowd control and de-contamination.

Volunteers were treated at Hull Royal Infirmary to test medics' reactions.

Volunteers playing the role of spectators in the stadium were "decontaminated" at the site by fire crews.

The exercise was not designed to test the ability of Yorkshire Ambulance Service to transport casualties to hospital.

Instead, volunteers were taken from decontamination at the stadium to the hospital's accident and emergency department in patient transport service vehicles.

The exercise "casualties" were assessed and treated in A&E in order to test the ability of the department to cope with the sudden influx of casualties in the event of a major incident.