More than 100 emergency personnel have had their skills tested at a simulated bus and car crash exercise in the Illawarra at the weekend.
Planning started last November for the BUSted simulation exercise – led by NSW Police – aimed at enhancing multi-agency responses and preparedness to a major incident.
The exercise involved a simulated bus and car crash on Mount Ousley Road, where a driver was trapped in a vehicle after colliding with a bus which was carrying 26 passengers.
About 130 emergency services personnel – including NSW Police attached to the Lake Illawarra, Wollongong, South Coast Police Districts, Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, NSW Police Rescue and Bomb Disposal Unit and Crash Investigation Unit – were joined on Saturday (21 June 2025), by Fire and Rescue NSW, State Emergency Service, Rural Fire Service and NSW Ambulance met at the Fire and Rescue NSW training centre at Shellharbour Regional Airport, in Albion Park for the training exercise.
A range of government and non-government agencies were also involved, including NSW Health, Homes NSW, Volunteer Rescue Association, Transport Management Centre, Red Cross, Wollongong City Council, Rapid Relief Team, Office of Transport Safety Investigations, Premier Buses.
Participants were provided with a range of challenges including managing road closures on the main arterial road, extricating trapped patients who were seriously injured, and assisting patients from a non-English speaking background.
A training exercise is run each year as part of the Illawarra Local Emergency Management Exercise Schedule to test the emergency response to a major emergencies.
Southern Region Commander and Regional Emergency Operations Controller (REOCON) for the Illawarra South Coast, Assistant Commissioner Joe Cassar APM, said the exercise was an opportunity to test the multi-agency response and build confidence and trust between emergency services and welfare agencies.
"This scenario was chosen as historically we have had a large number of incidents on Mount Ousley Road requiring a multi-agency response…. once you cut off that main arterial road, it becomes very problematic, not only for people approaching that location but the immediate drivers that are locked in that footprint," Assistant Commissioner Cassar said.
"Not only do we need to respond to the actual site, we have to look at how we can move people are in the gridlock.. so, it's important that we establish a command and control response at the first instance and then we start to activate that response to clear those roads and get people to safe environments.
"The exercise was developed to mirror a real-life scenario and challenge emergency services to troubleshoot while under immense pressure. We had role players as patients, bystanders who stepped in to assist, media arriving on scene, as well as family members wanting to get access to their loved ones. These are all aspects emergency service personnel are faced with, in addition to the initial response to the patients in danger.
"The exercise was a success and I think all agencies should be proud of their own individual response and more importantly of the emergency management response," he said.
NSW Police Regional Emergency Management Officer (REMO), Jenna Conran, organised the exercise and said there will be important findings from the day.
"NSW Police is the combat agency for large transport incidents in NSW…. when something major like a bus crash, plane crash a larger car crash any incident of that nature, it's important emergency services have the chance to exercise their response and test their inter-agency relationships to make sure we are providing the best service for our community," Mrs Conran said.
"Exercises like this allow us to test any new policies that have been implemented to circumvent any issues that emergency services might find such as convergence or communication. It provides us with a playground to work out those processes, cut out the teething problems and allows us to activate efficiently and effectively on site to an event like this."
At the conclusion of the scenario, a debrief was conducted with all agencies. Evaluators were also on site to provide feedback later this week.
