A HOSPITAL boiler room fire saw six people fast-tracked to Swindon's A&E suffering burns and the effects of smoke inhalation.

That, at least, was the scenario set up for a Great Western Hospital simulation day. Firefighters, paramedics, nurses and doctors took part in the training event, designed to test their response to a similar emergency.

Tim Slade, consultant in emergency medicine at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This exercise saw 35 members of staff from across a number of different organisations, including the trust’s emergency department and the ambulance and fire services come together to respond to a simulation event of a fire in a boiler room with six casualties affected by smoke inhalation and burns.

"The teams saw how each service would act, and followed the patients from being rescued from the fire through to treatment in the emergency department."

The event was just the latest simulation exercise organised at the Marlborough Road hospital.

Last month, patients saw emergency department staff dressed in green plastic HAZMAT suits respond to a mocked-up chemical incident outside the Swindon A&E. It was backed by paramedics from South Western Ambulance Service.

Dr Slade said: “We regularly run exercises for a number of different situations to ensure that our staff are kept updated with their training and know exactly how to respond to any eventualities that might arise in real life.”