EMERGO - North East and North Cumbria

Exercise overview

The exercise is delivered as part of the NHS England regional EPRR programme and is designed to test NHS system arrangements for responding to a mass casualty incident. Activity will focus on coordinated decision-making, casualty dispersal, receiving capacity, acute surge, patient flow and system coordination.

Pre-exercise participant briefing

Monday 21 September 2026, 13:00 to 14:00, Microsoft Teams. All nominated participants should attend where possible. A short recap and scenario introduction will also be provided on the day.

Exercise Aim and Objectives 

Aim

To exercise and provide assurance on the revised mass casualty dispersal process and supporting system arrangements, including provider and system capability to: create and maintain receiving capacity, sustain critical care surge, enable rapid discharge with partners.

Objectives

• Demonstrate application of the North of England Casualty Dispersal Model to safely allocate casualties to appropriate receiving sites within the initial operational hour.
• Achieve immediate release of ambulance crews at ED handover and create sufficient emergency department capacity to receive incoming casualties throughout the exercise play period.
• Demonstrate system-wide delivery of surge capacity by releasing 10% of acute beds within 6 hours and 20% within 12 hours through coordinated discharge processes and partner support.
• Demonstrate the ability of acute providers to expand Level 3 critical care capacity to at least double baseline levels and sustain this for a projected 96-hour period.
• Evidence effective system coordination through real-time sharing of casualty and capacity data between scene, ambulance services, ICBs, and providers to inform ongoing dispersal and resource decisions.

Questions about this event?

Name: tom chapman

Email: tom.chapman7@nhs.net

Telephone: 04124154674