To support the Commissioner's Operational Priorities 2013, which include for the first time Major Incidents and Disasters, New Territories North Region conducted a multi-agency exercise in May, involving 10  Government Departments and two private companies. 

To provide more opportunities for officers under the Junior Police Officer (JPO) Development Programme, eight JPOs volunteered to plan and run the exercise, and completed an evaluation report under the guidance of Commanding Officers of Emergency Unit (EU) NTN.

The JPOs were Police Constable (PC) Leung Wai-ki, PC Chan Ka-fai and PC Wong Shu-wing from EU NTN; PC Chung Ka-shing, PC Yau Shiu-lun and PC Pun Siu-yue from Police Tactical Unit NTN; PC Wong Yin-yan from Crime NTN, and PC Cheng Ka-chun from Tuen Mun District.  For the first time, they had experienced planning a major multi-departmental exercise from conception to completion. Over three months, they organised three multi-departmental planning meetings and held a major tabletop exercise on May 3.

Exercise FIRESWEEPER III took place on May 24. During the exercise, the New Territories West Landfill was transformed into the scene of a "disaster" with devastated villages and 29 "dead bodies" washed out to sea.

HICOM was set up and EU NTN, PTU NTN, QRF, T NTN, CRM NTN, TMDIST all turned out, assisted by EOD and MWDIV. DVIU and CEU activated an exercise helpdesk and MIIDSS was used to collect data. A total of 620 police officers were involved. 

Fire Services Department, Food, Environment and Hygiene Department, Government Flying Service, Hospital Authority, Home Affairs Department, Housing Department, Social Welfare Department, Lands Department and Auxiliary Medical Service all took part in the exercise. NTN was grateful to China Light and Power and the Brinks Security Company for making use of their facilities during the exercise.

The scenarios stretched the resourcefulness of the multi-departmental response to a "disaster" of such a scale.  At the end of the exercise DVIU identified the "dead bodies" with few or no identifying features,  and "missing people" were identified. An "injured person" was given an on-site "amputation" by Hospital Authority doctors, the first practice in an exercise. 

EOD was called out by a helicopter to handle a suspicious object unearthed during a landslide and the affected people were taken to a shelter and looked after by HAD, HD and SWD.  By the end of the exercise, all "dead bodies" were recovered and identified; the "casualties" were treated in hospital and other affected people put up in shelters.

Overall Exercise FIRESWEEPER III enhanced multi-departmental response to a major disaster. RC NTN So Kam-sing praised the exercise planning team for covering everything from the tabletop to the ground exercise.  Every department achieved their own purposes, especially HA's on-site "amputation" and pre-hospital treatment during the exercise.  He also noted that the participants displayed professionalism despite the environment of the landfill.