My son and I were privileged
to be invited to provide Photographs and Video for this exercise.
It was one of the biggest ever
motorway emergency exercises ever to take place on the M62 to help improve
responses to major road incidents.
Around 100 workers from Greater
Manchester’s emergency services worked with Highways England’s traffic
officers through the night to respond to a staged multiple-casualty incident
involving an overturned coach, two HGVs, eight cars and a motorbike.
A wide range of people took part on the night, aged from 20 to 84.
This stretch of the M62 between the M6 and the M60 is used by around 120,000 vehicles every day. The motorway was closed overnight between 8pm on Saturday 10 August and 10.30am on Sunday 11 August for major construction work when Exercise Dark Knight was also timed to take place.
One of the added complications was that the exercise took place on an unlit section of the motorway, presenting additional challengers for all involved, and it was certainly a challenge for us as we undertook our photographic tasks.
For any exercise of this magnitude
there are months of preparation beforehand, and then on the day preparations
take place at various locations.
I have covered to exercise in
4 sections.
1. The Casualties being made up and briefed at Highways England’s Eccles offices.
2. Several of the appliances taking part, gathered beforehand at Eccles Fire Station.
3. Once the motorway was shut, all the vehicles had to be put in place.
4. The live exercise.