Alarmed patients spotted medics wearing Hazmat suits outside Royal Oldham Hospital - but officials have assured them it's a training exercise, not a chemical incident.
Staff at Royal Oldham were involved in the same training which colleagues at Salford Royal Hospital undertook last month. The exercise tests protocols when dealing with hazardous materials including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear as well as explosives. It also tests how staff follow decontamination rules.
This morning, patients and visitors to Royal Oldham Hospital saw medics in bright yellow Hazmat (hazardous materials) suits as well as tents which were erected in the car park. Some contacted the M.E.N. concerned that a serious incident was unfolding.
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But bosses at Royal Oldham said it was merely a repeat of the training exercise which took place at Salford Royal. Then hospital bosses assured the public there was no reason to worry, and encouraged patients and staff to attend A&E as normal.
All the people involved in the training were volunteers, working in their own time, with the training 'planned so it did not affect service delivery of the emergency department in any way', according to NHS chiefs.
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