Terror attack response tested as emergency services conduct 'largest exercise of its kind'

Police, paramedics, and firefighters tested their response to a terror attack scenario in the largest training exercise of its kind in modern times.

Up to 1,000 people took part in the drill in London's Canary Wharf, including dozens of actors, staging an operation meant to test the emergency response to a marauding terrorist attack.

Counter Terrorism Policing London, who organised the exercise - codenamed Firebird, drew on lessons learned from the Manchester Arena terror attacks in 2019 and deployed new technology, such as drones.

The exercise also provided a sobering reminder of the Docklands IRA bombing in 1996, which killed two and left more than 100 injured.

Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Kris Wright, who directed the operation, said it was "the largest exercise of its kind... in modern times".

He said: "It is quite poignant that Canary Wharf, the site of one of the most well-known terror attacks London has ever seen, is now hosting an exercise where we assure ourselves that as that threat has evolved, our response and our ability to combat that threat has evolved with it."

It comes after the threat level was moved to "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely.

Mr Wright said emergency services would be tested to deal with different types of attack scenarios.

"Whether it be a marauding terror attack with knife, with gun, with fire, whether it be vehicles being used as a weapon, or even some of the more technical threats that we face," he said.

Experiences from real-life events and previous exercises all fed the design of the drill.

One of the measures tested was 10-second triage - the process by which emergency services categorise victims at speed.

"That is a lesson that's come from the tragic events of Manchester Arena," Mr Wright added.

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Local make-up colleges were even recruited to make realistic-looking injuries to treat at the scene.

Mr Wright said: "For me, exercises like this give me an opportunity to test what we already know or where we have seen opportunities to learn, and also to test, those newer capabilities.

"The response that Londoners see from their emergency services and partners to the most catastrophic events is, in my opinion, world-leading.

"But we shouldn't be complacent. We should continue to stretch ourselves and test ourselves, and that's what we do here today."

(c) Sky News 2026: Terror attack response tested as emergency services conduct 'largest exercise of its kind'