(TNS) – On a typical day, students and teachers fill the halls of Shirley C. Heim Middle School in Stafford County. But on Wednesday morning, hordes of residents playing the role of survivors of an EF3 tornado strike filed off a bus and crowded into the school, which served as an emergency shelter for the day.

Volunteers greeted the survivors at the entrance, directed them to sign in and fielded numerous questions, including where to take those with life-threatening injuries and whether dogs could be taken into the shelter.

The events at the school were part of a countywide full-scale mass-care exercise involving more than 200 participants and multiple local and state agencies. County participants included the school system and departments including Human Services, Social Services, Fire and Rescue, Community Emergency Response Team, Stafford Emergency Management Communications, Sheriff’s Office, Animal Control, and Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

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http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Mass-Care-Exercise-Tests-Staffords-Disaster-Readiness.html