Preparing for the worst: Emergency exercises take place at Charlottetown airport

The Charlottetown Airport Authority hosted an emergency response training exercise on Wednesday.

A mock plane crash was staged with firefighters, paramedics and airport staff responding to the fake crash.

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Doug Newson, CEO of the Charlottetown Airport Authority, says this is his third time going through one of these exercises.

"It's just a great opportunity to test out our procedures and make sure that if anything ever did happen, that we'd be more prepared for it," he said.

Students from the Holland College firefightingprogram there were on hand to play the part of victims.

Tyler McDonald, in his second month of the program, said the experience would be a good way to see how first responders should act in emergency situations.

"Just how efficient EMS and everyone like that is today and just really how hard these guys work and like see how they go under pressure," he said.

'Looking to improve'

Shelley Christian, vice president of operations for the airport, said full-scale emergency exercises are done every four years to test the emergency response plan.

"It's important to test out our procedures and to work with our partners to know what we do in the case of an emergency and what we can do in the future better," she said.

"We're always looking to improve our operations, so this is a good test and hopefully we can take it back to our teams and plan for the future."

Christian said Charlottetown police and firefighters, Island EMS and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital were all participating in the drill.

'Looking for weaknesses'

Matthew Poole, an advanced-care paramedic, said theseexercises help in getting first responders ready and helping plan in the future.

"It's just an opportunity for us to refresh what we already know and what we're already prepared for," he said.

"We're looking for weaknesses and looking for areas that we can become stronger in."

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