OCEAN CITY, Md--With military officials in uniform and emergency trucks already set up, the Inlet parking lot might look alarming, but it's just a drill.
The town is partnering with the National Guard to test their capability in responding to an attack. Emergency Director, Joseph Theobald says the town is hoping to make the resort town even more safe.
"There are going to be multiple complex incidents going on at one time, from active shooter exercises to mass causality exercises. We are going to see how well we respond," says Theobald. More than 1,000 first responders will be on sight. Some of those partners include The National Guard, The U.S Coast Guard, and several local agencies. Some of the training started Friday, the National Guard worked with Ocean City's Fire Marshall on how to identify chemical substances that could harm people. Ocean City visitor, Tom Kemp watched Friday's exercise and says Ocean City needs the practice.
"As I look around here, this is what I would call a target rich environment, especially during the summer and if somebody wanted to mess with an awful lot of people in a hurry this would be the place to do it," says Kemp.
A training to better protect Ocean City. Theobad says the town has been planning this exercises since April and they're happy to finally see this weekend arrive.
The training starts at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning and runs until 6 p.m.
The inlet lot will be closed during the training.
