Naval Air Station Oceana in cooperation with the City of Virginia Beach Emergency Medical Services, Fire Department and Police Department, conducted a mass casualty exercise at NAS Oceana July 28.

The exercise was held in preparation for the base air show, scheduled Sept. 9-11.

More than 150 Sailors, Marines and civilian volunteers participated as spectators and victims for the drill. Personnel from the Oceana Security Department and firefighters from Navy, Mid-Atlantic Region Fire and Emergency Services at Oceana and Dam Neck Annex served as first responders.

"We're very happy to have another large-scale exercise," said NAS Oceana Commanding Officer Capt. Louis Schager. "In today's day and age we're always needing to be prepared for any kind of incident whether that's a fire at a facility or worse yet, an aircraft incident or accident."

During the drill, emergency workers transported volunteers to the Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital on-site triage location via the Virginia Beach Police helicopter and Sentara Nightingale Air Ambulance. Volunteers acting as bystanders were kept away from the scene as personnel managed other simulated emergency scenarios.

"One of the challenges always is going to be that we're simulating," said City of Virginia Beach Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Erin Sutton. "A hundred-fifty-thousand people a day will come to the air show, so getting a crowd to simulate ... that is always a challenge, but we have great volunteers that come out and tax the system as best we can for the exercise."

Sutton added that communication is key during a mass casualty exercise because of the multiple agencies involved.

"It's always a great opportunity to work with our military partners and our multiple departments in the city," said Sutton. "It's always a good opportunity to bring us together and work through these exercises."

For complete information on the upcoming 2016 NAS Oceana Air Show, visit www.oceanaairshow.com.

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