Some tense moments Thursday at the yakima airport, thankfully, it was just a training exercise. Local emergency responders spent the day learning what to do if there's a shooter and a lot of people hurt.
Every three years the yakima airport is required by federal law to simulate a mass casualty emergency.
"Everywhere from hospitals, the police department, the fire department, and the red cross is here, this is a test for them," City of Yakima Spokesperson Randy Beehler explained.
And to make it as effective and hands on as possible they put some of these first responders in the victim's shoes, using them as actors, giving them a new perspective.
"Now i can see what a victim is going to be like, so I'm going to play it up," EMT Mark Mcallister said while applying stage makeup for the drill,"It will be a good evaluation for medical and fire to get everyone together and work out a plan for if and when this does happen."
The drill today incorporated police, firefighters, and a host of other first responders. They were thrown into an active shooter scenario in the terminal of the airport, while firefighters dealt with a fire and injured people on board a plane.
"We're going to have them taking care of patients, applying fire agents, and they get a chance to put into practice, in a more real life situation, put their skills to use," Shift Commander, Mitch Cole, with the Yakima Fire Department said.