A large-scale national exercise took place at Châteauroux-Déols Airport, beginning at 7:00 AM on Tuesday, September 22, and concluding around 3:00 AM on Wednesday.
Organized by the Paris SAMU (emergency medical service) with support from Marcel Dassault Airport, Châteauroux Métropole, Air Caraïbes, the SNCF, the Indre Prefecture, various ministries and state agencies, as well as local authorities (Châteauroux Métropole, the Department, and the Centre-Val de Loire Region), the exercise mobilized emergency services, first-aid associations, and internal security forces. In total, over 1,000 people were present on site.
As a testament to our association's efficiency, “Les Amis de La Martinerie” was asked to manage a group of volunteers.
Nearly thirty volunteers took part, some of whom were participating in their fifth such exercise.
The goal of the exercise was to simulate the repatriation of French nationals following a major incident outside the European Union.
Medical transport aircraft, a medical train, a helicopter, and the EVACARe unit, capable of transporting eight intensive-care patients, were all present on site.
It was a moment of shared purpose appreciated by all, fostering a sense of collective action: enabling emergency services to get to know one another and learn to work together for the benefit of our fellow citizens.
For further details, we invite you to read the attached article by Jean-Sébastien Le Berre in the “La Nouvelle Republique de l’Indre” newspaper.
More photos will be available soon on the association's website. Thank you to all our volunteers, and to those from the IHEDN who mobilized for this exercise.
The article from the newspaper La NR dated September 22, 2026
The article from the newspaper La NR dated September 22, 2026
Photos from the newspaper La NR dated September 22, 2026
Click on images to enlarge
Photo credit: Christian Robuchon, Didier Dubant and Jean-Jacques Bérenguier
