With the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks only weeks away, local emergency responders want to make sure they're prepared for anything. Dozens of emergency crews from throughout the Quad Cities were hard at work on Arsenal Island today, responding to a simulated terrorist attack.
The scenario? A radioactive car bomb explodes on the island, leaving mass casualties. No one was truly hurt today but, thanks to some believable volunteers, it seemed real.
"We try to make it as realistic as I think we can and not overact, but act as if we've been injured," said U.S. Army Captain, and volunteer, John Hartrich. Every volunteer starts the day with a blue folder. Once they look inside, they find out what injury they have to act out.
"I'm supposed to have two broken legs and I'm supposed to pretend like I have asthma," said Hartrich, still laying on the ground. Some volunteers simply 'play dead,' but others don't have it as easy --
"I have a right leg fracture and a head laceration, but I'm responsive," said volunteer Maria Kobelenske.
Captain Andrew Burrows said he didn't know how to act at first --
"My slip of paper said hysterical," he said. "So, you might call it shell-shocked, that kind of thing."
It's firsthand look at the job of a fireman, a medic or a police officer --
"It makes more sense now that I can actively help the first responders," said volunteer Emma Augustine. The portrayal these volunteers work hard to act out gives emergency responders a rare glimpse at a full-scale disaster.
"They're heroes in their own right," said Hartrich. "If I can help a little bit, might as well."
Although they have performed "active shooter" drills in the past, local emergency crews have never performed a drill like this one before. And all of them hope they never have to experience the real thing.
