Theatrical make up students recreate helicopter crash for police exercise

Theatrical makeup students recreated a helicopter accident with bruising, burns and injuries as part of a training exercise for the police service.

On 5 and 6 March, students travelled to Longmoor Training Camp in Liss to assist in a training exercise for forensic teams and police services from Dorset, Sussex, Thames Valley and Metropolitan.

The HSDC students created casualty makeup on four people who had been involved in a helicopter accident. The objective was for the police and forensic services to identify the bodies, work our where they were positioned on the aircraft and whether the belongings they found belonged to the victims.

Students recreated bruising, burns, injuries and added details such as tattoos and scarring. During the visit, they also attended a training session with the police, identifying British values and the importance in staying safe. There was also a speaker from the South East Counter Terrorism Squad and students witnessed the effect of a small contained bomb explosion in a demonstration which was run by the military.

Course Manager Dawn Richardson said: “The students received praise from Steve Tolmee from Thames Valley Police, who organised the training session. He said that the exercise benefitted the training of both the forensic and police services.

“This was a long day for the students it has helped them to prepare for the industry and understand the importance of researching and working out of their comfort zone.”