By CHAT News Today

South of Bow Island

HALO to be part of Whitla wind farm emergency training exercise

Aug 20, 2020 | 2:31 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – HALO is among a handful of southeastern Alberta agencies that will partner with a pair of private companies for an emergency training session at an area wind farm next week.

The comprehensive emergency training exercise will take place at Capital Power’s Whitla Wind 1 facility south of Bow Island on Aug. 26. The simulated exercise will involve an on-site emergency that activates a multi-agency response.

HALO Air Ambulance, County of Forty Mile Fire Department, Bow Island Fire Department, Bow Island RCMP and Alberta Health Services EMS will be joined in the exercise by Capital Power and Vestas, the wind turbine supplier and maintenance provider.

“Safety is a fundamental part of the HALO program, it is one of our core values, each year we place a priority on training and make sure everyone is prepared to work with the helicopter.” said Paul Carolan, CEO of HALO Air Ambulance, in a release. “We work with some of the best first responders in the world, when Vestas asked us to participate in an emergency exercise involving a multi-agency response, we didn’t hesitate.”

Vestas QSE Lead Dylan Yanke says the simulated emergency has taken months to plan and organize and gives employees an opportunity to put their training into practice in a real-world environment.

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“Our area of responsibility includes 56 wind turbine locations, each with their own access, by including our local emergency service partners, we provide them with an opportunity to evaluate their response, while providing our onsite technicians a sense of what is involved in an emergency, HALO is a vital part of that plan and we wanted to include them from the beginning,” he said.