Sri Vijaya Puram, July 11: In a significant demonstration of inter-agency co-ordination and emergency preparedness, the Andaman & Nicobar Command successfully conducted a comprehensive mock drill on 10 Jul 25 at Veer Savarkar International Airport to assess response readiness for an Air Crash scenario including Mass Causality Evacuation.
The high intensity simulation, co-ordinated by INS Utkrosh aimed to test the effectiveness of various emergency response and synergy among Military and Civil stakeholders. The exercise involved participation from key agencies including INHS Dhanvantari, Director of Health Services, State Disaster Management, GB Pant Hospital, Pillar Hospital, Civil Police, CISF, Airline Operators and Airport Authority of India.
The drill commenced with a simulated crash of a commercial aircraft. INS Utkrosh’s safety services team immediately swung into action and swiftly doused the simulated onboard fire and initiated causality evacuation followed by Crash & salvage operation. Simultaneously, the medical department of INS Utkrosh established a triage area where trained medical teams provided initial resuscitation and first aid to the simulated survivors.
A total of 14 Ambulances (06 from Armed forces and 08 from civil authorities) reached the incident site promptly. The injured were transported to GB Pant Hospital, INHS Dhanvantari and Pillar Hospital where medical staff re-triaged 130 mock causalities. Crisis expansion ward was activated and preparedness of the surgical teams, operation theatre and disaster management were assessed.
The entire exercised was monitored by observers from the Andaman & Nicobar Command and the Civil Administration ensuring objective evaluation and identification of response gaps.
This large-scale drill underscored the Island’s robust contingency and disaster management framework and reaffirmed the collective commitment of Civil- Military agencies to passenger safety and disaster resilience in the region.