The exercise was based on a scenario involving a gas leak at an apartment block in Carrickmacross, which required the evacuation of 50–100 residents in need of emergency accommodation.
The exercise commenced with the Chief Fire Officer notifying the Civil Defence Officer (CDO) from Monaghan Civil Defence of the incident. As further details emerged—particularly regarding the number of evacuees & if there were any health/mobility issues — Monaghan CDO requested assistance from Civil Defence units in neighbouring regions.
This exercise provided a valuable opportunity to test newly introduced Team Lead training and Standard Operating Guidelines, as well as the effectiveness of available rest centre equipment. Evacuation Centre Team Leads were assigned specific roles and were responsible for ensuring the smooth management of the incident from start to finish. Key responsibilities included transporting evacuees from Carrickmacross to Monaghan Civil Defence Headquarters, establishing and running a registration area, command and control area, hygiene area, welfare area and bedding area, among other functions. Volunteers from participating Civil Defence units acted as evacuees for the purposes of the exercise.
To ensure the exercise was as realistic as possible, participating Civil Defence units were not pre-briefed on the scenario details, including the nature of the incident or the number of evacuees etc. External agencies, including the Fire Service, An Garda Síochána, the Local Authority Housing Section, and the HSE, also participated in the exercise.
Sincere thanks are extended to all Civil Defence volunteers and external agencies who gave their time on a Saturday to support and contribute to the success of the exercise.
