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Update July 6, 2012:  Don't be alarmed when you see lots of emergency vehicle and personnel activity next week.  It's just a weapons of mass destruction exericse.  Nothing to see here.

"You'll see most of the activity from the exercise around South Strand Regional Medical Center, Aynor High School, Horry County Public Works and the City of Conway Shooting Range."  You can read more about the exercise, who is participating, and how it is being funded in a write-up by WPDE.

First report:  Have you always wanted to play an "unnamed victim or student in various scenes" in a weapons of mass destruction training exercise?  If so, Horry County Fire Rescue needs your help.

Volunteers are needed for the 2012 South Carolina Weapons of Mass Destruction Specialized Response Team exercise being conducted from July 9-July 13, 2012.  Multiple public safety agencies from around the South Carolina, will be coming together in Horry County, to test the interoperability of specialized response teams in the event of an actual terrorist event in our state.

According to the volunteer registration form, the exercises will take place in two locations: South Strand Medical Center and Aynor High School.  Those attending the events at South Strand Medical Center will play out the following scenarios on the specified dates:

South Strand Medical Center (SSMC) will require volunteers to act in the role of staff and patients who were in an emergency room setting when an explosive device detonated on Tuesday July 10th. Role players on July 11th will be victims of a Chemical Weapon attack. all role players at SSMC will have to be able bodied enough to stand for long periods of time, be able to lay on a medical sled and dragged out of the facility. Participants may be exposed to a water based synthetic smoke. Participants may be completely soaked with water and "scrubbed" during the decontamination process.

 

And at Aynor High school, volunteers/role players will be required to: 

... stand for long periods of time, move quickly at the direction of exercise participants and staff, wear a full face helmet, be exposed to persons carrying various types of rifles and pistols and act in the role of students or staff caught in a school shooting scenario. All role players will be required to sign a waiver prior to participation. Any person under the age of 18 years old will have to be accompanied for the entire time by a parent or legal guardian.

Sounds pretty intense! 

Church groups, civic groups and individuals are all encouraged to participate.  To read more about the opportunity, check out this WMBF story.  For more information on this event, please contact Matthew Smith at 843.915.5190.  To become a volunteer, you can sign up by clicking here. 

To keep up with the latest from Horry County Fire Rescue, connect with them on Facebook.