London Fire Brigade and three London hospitals are taking part in a training exercise on Fulham Road from 11am today.
Volunteers will play causalities who may have been exposed to a suspected chemical leak at a nearby petrol station.
As part of the exercise, hospital staff at Chelsea and Westminster, Royal Brompton and Royal Marsden will be tested on their procedures for dealing with potentially contaminated patients at all three NHS hospital sites.
Meanwhile crews from London Fire Brigade will be using specialist equipment to identify the source of the leak.
The hospitals will all remain open as normal during the exercise.
Station manager Nick Davis said: “Crews will be wearing gas tight suits and using specialist equipment as part of the exercise and so we don’t want any passers by to be alarmed.
“It is crucial that our firefighters are prepared to deal with a wide range of emergencies and this is one of a number of training exercises that we carry out each year.
“We have designed the exercise to make it as realistic as possible but without disrupting the running of the hospitals or Fulham Road.”
40 firefighters and officers and appliances from Kensington, North Kensington, Chelsea, Euston, Fulham and the Brigade’s Rapid Response Team will take part in the training exercise.
Public Health England will also take part in the exercise with a chemical specialist team giving advice on treatment of chemical. NHS England (London) EPRR Team are also supporting the exercise.
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