New Delhi:
Delhi on Tuesday witnessed a major coordinated mockdrill under which simulated incidents of fire, earthquake and bomb blasts were enacted in 33 locations to check medical response system of prominent city hospitals.
All major government as well as private hospitals participated in the mockdrill carried out as part of the Delhi Emergency Management Exercise (DEMEX) by Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
The basic purpose of the drill, which started at around 11:45 am, was to assess and improve emergency medical response system. 300 observers from Army and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) oversaw the exercise.
The NDMA had appointed six teams of observers which comprised of doctors from National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIH&FW), AIIMS and Railways.
The simulation exercise at Burari Urs Ground was conducted in supervision of experts from Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh and Oregon.
CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also participated at Naraina and Burari sites where simulated incidents of bomb blasts were created.
Officials said the disaster management machinery dealt with the overall "scenario" of 164 dead, 143 seriously injured, and 461 minor injuries to people.
The "casualties" were taken to various hospitals and admitted for treatment.
The prominent hospitals which participated in the exercise include LNJP hospital, Gangaram Hospital, RML hospital, DDU hospital, Guru Gobind Singh hospital, Aruna Asaf Ali hospital, Hindu Rao hospital, Rao Tula Ram hospital, GTB hospital, Lady Harding hospital, Apollo hospital, Hedgewar hospital.
About 5,000 personnel from various disaster management agencies participated in the mock drill, officials said, adding that government will now analyse the results and take all corrective measures needed to further streamline the response mechanism.
Commuters faced hardship in various areas due to the mockdrill as flow of traffic in various arterial roads was affected.
The simulation scenarios enacted during the exercise also include building collapse, chemical leak in factory, road accident, school building collapse, fire in government building, flyover collapse and fire in mall.
Earlier this year, DDMA in collaboration with the NDMA had organised a mega mock drill on February 15.