NAMPA - Have you ever wondered how local law enforcement agencies prepare for worst case scenarios?
Tuesday, several agencies worked a practice scenario for a real-life threat in the parking lot of the Idaho Center in Nampa.
The Idaho National Guard's 101st Weapon Mass Destruction Civil Support Team Hosted part one of a two-day training event with the FBI, DEA and several Nampa-area first responders.
The staged event involved dealing with an active shooter on a city bus, who poisoned passengers with a backpack full of fentanyl.
When spread through the air, fentanyl can be poisonous to people in close proximity.
Law enforcement was tasked with dealing with the active shooter, attending to wounded passengers, and dealing with the spread of the dangerous chemical.
Personnel on scene went into the practice with no information about the situation. Event organizers say this is the best way to respond.
"If something really does happen, we know each other’s faces, we've worked with each other before and this makes us that much better of a response to help the local folks out," said Major Robert Grimes with the Idaho National Guard’s 101st Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team.
As part of the exercise, simulated patients were transported to St. Luke's Nampa Medical Center and Saint Alphonsus Medical Center Nampa.
Agencies will evaluate how they did this afternoon when the training wraps up.