NHS Fife staff have donned hazmat suits and taken part in a drill to prepare for major incidents.
Pictures shared by the health board show staff dressed in hazmat suits setting up emergency decontamination tents outside Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
The event was meant to simulate a real-life major incident involving large numbers of sick and injured patients.
It was held in the hospital’s emergency department to test the plans in place to manage such events.
It allows staff to become familiar with equipment used during a chemical incident or accident when a large number of people require their help.
NHS Fife says the exercise was planned to have no impact on patient services, with A&E service remaining open throughout.
Susan Cameron, head of resilience, said: “Emergency planning is crucial to ensuring we can respond effectively to major incidents, and these types of exercise are vital in helping us test our plans to make sure we are as prepared as we can be for such events.
“The emergency department is most often at the centre of our response to major incidents and the simulated event will allow us to test a realistic possible scenario in real-time.
“We can subsequently then tailor our planning to make sure that robust protocols are in place to help us manage real emergencies as effectively as possible.”
NHS Fife had issued a message about the event on its social media pages to reassure anyone who saw the exercise taking place that it was a simulation.
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