Exercise NorthStar V
Singapore carried out one of the largest anti-terrorism exercises yesterday morning to test the preparedness of the emergency services. Initially, I expecting that it will be just another of those simple exercises that lack some realism but after catching the news clips and reading the news today, I truly applaud the efforts of the authorities.
The frontpage photo of the many mock victims in MRT trains looked just like a real incident except that the train cabin was not torn apart by explosions. The bus that was "bombed" was set up to look exactly that with even a realistic looking mock fire. What really got me was the true scale of the exercise. Four MRT stations and one bus terminal were simulated to be bombed plus an additional sarin attack at one of the "bombed" MRT stations. Thirteen MRT stations were closed for the exercise. Seven hospitals and two polyclinics were activated. Security at the immigration checkpoints were really stepped up. Family support centres were set up and DNA samples were collected for bodies identification. News agencies reported the exercise as if it was a real attack after an initial note that it is an exercise. Meteorologists of NEA provided vital information like wind speed, wind direction, humidity and air pressure in the event of a chemical or biological attack. Officially, 22 government agencies, 2000 participants and about 3400 train commuters were involved...I salute the work of all those who had been involved in the exercise. A job very well done!
The frontpage photo of the many mock victims in MRT trains looked just like a real incident except that the train cabin was not torn apart by explosions. The bus that was "bombed" was set up to look exactly that with even a realistic looking mock fire. What really got me was the true scale of the exercise. Four MRT stations and one bus terminal were simulated to be bombed plus an additional sarin attack at one of the "bombed" MRT stations. Thirteen MRT stations were closed for the exercise. Seven hospitals and two polyclinics were activated. Security at the immigration checkpoints were really stepped up. Family support centres were set up and DNA samples were collected for bodies identification. News agencies reported the exercise as if it was a real attack after an initial note that it is an exercise. Meteorologists of NEA provided vital information like wind speed, wind direction, humidity and air pressure in the event of a chemical or biological attack. Officially, 22 government agencies, 2000 participants and about 3400 train commuters were involved...I salute the work of all those who had been involved in the exercise. A job very well done!
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