Dutch king watches mass-casualty emergency drill in Amersfoort

King Willem-Alexander watched emergency services rehearse responses to mass-casualty incidents in Amersfoort on Saturday, including a simulated bus crash and the arrival of injured troops. The exercise tested how medical teams would handle a sudden influx of patients.

The drills took place at military training ground De Vlasakkers during what Nieuws.nl described as the largest exercise yet organised by the Calamiteitenhospitaal, a disaster hospital run jointly by UMC Utrecht, the ministries of Defence and Health, Welfare and Sport.

In the first scenario, a train brought in 30 wounded soldiers for repatriation after a fictional large-scale NATO conflict “in the east”. Because the exercise was planned, responders knew the train was coming. Actors played the casualties, including one with a head wound and fake blood.

The King then watched a second scenario depicting a bus driving into a crowd for an unknown reason. The staged scene included an overturned bus, a burning car and people calling for help. Representatives of emergency organisations, including Utrecht Safety Region and the Netherlands Red Cross, briefed him.

One actor asked the King whether he had a first-aid certificate. “Not with me,” he replied, playing along, according to Nieuws.nl.

He later travelled by ambulance to the Calamiteitenhospitaal in Utrecht. The hospital, which is marking its 35th year, has 200 beds, three operating theatres and an intensive care unit, and can be ready for use within 30 minutes, the report said.