Emergency! But don't panic, it's an exercise

Hundreds of people will be involved in Exercise Pambo, which will gauge how well the authorities deal with a mock major chemical incident in the town centre.

As part of the imaginary scenario 60 volunteers will undergo a full chemical decontamination by the Fire and Rescue Service outside Barnsley Hospital's accident and emergency department.

Local GPs, dentists, opticians, and the ambulance service will all be involved in the test, in 12 different locations around the town centre.

A Primary Care Trust spokesman said: “This exercise is one of the first to test how a PCT, a Hospital Trust and the Fire Service would work together to deal with members of the public who arrive for treatment following a chemical incident.

“The police, ambulance service and local authority will also have their personnel attending during the exercise to provide the essential links to assist during any similar disaster.

“Unfortunately this event will result in some minor travel disruptions and a degree of minor inconvenience will be experienced by outpatients and general hospital users on the day.

“Gawber Road will be affected between 2pm and 5.30pm and the front of accident and emergency will be cleared before lunchtime.

“Access will be maintained to accident and emergency and outpatients for users and emergency ambulances and the hospital will be ensuring as easy access as possible but a little more patience may be required.”