Olympic games drill to test London’s emergency services

A large-scale exercise to test how the emergency services will need to react if a major incident strikes during the London 2012 Games will be staged tomorrow.

Lessons learned from the July 7 bombings will feed in to the two-day live exercise — dubbed Forward Defensive — in central London.

The disused Aldwych underground station, near London’s Royal Courts of Justice, will be the scene of a mock incident on the tube network. Passersby will be able to spot people being evacuated as part of the mid-morning test.

Other less visible security work will be carried out through to the following day.

The two-day event will be staged as if it is Aug 8 and 9, which will be two very busy days in London during the Games.

It will involve everyone from “constable to Cobra,” the top level government committee which sits during national emergencies and times of crisis.

Emergency responses dealing with casualties and the crime scenes will be tested, along with the co-ordination and communication systems across a range of organisations that have been brought together for the Games.

It will be a chance to see how decision-making on the ground works in relation to the complex command and security planning which has been worked out on paper and in mock table-top exercises.