This is only a drill: Guardsmen train for a major emergency

Aileen Montoya, playing an injured victim, is carried away as Utah Air National Guardsmen and civilian officials from disaster-response organizations conduct a mass-casualty, patient-reception drill at the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate current response plans and capabilities for patient reception in the National Disaster Medical System. The Air National Guard's role is to act as the primary reception site where patients will be offloaded, triaged and transported to hospitals. The system provides support to federal agencies in the management and coordination of medical response to major emergencies and federally declared disasters, including natural disasters, major transportation accidents, technological disasters and acts of terrorism. The Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City is one of 57 federal coordination centers throughout the U.S. that could be called to help in such an event. These centers are responsible for receiving patients from disaster areas and coordinating with local hospitals.