CHERRY VALLEY - A school bus has crashed. Several students are critically injured. At least one person is dead. A deputy responding to the accident is exposed to a mysterious white substance, and in the modern age of global terrorism, anthrax is suspected.

It's every emergency worker's worst nightmare.

Except this time, it's all fake. Well, sort of.

"This is as close to real as you would want it to get," said Toni Christensen, Otsego County Red Cross supervisor.

Departments from emergency service organizations around Otsego County and New York State participated in a full-scale emergency drill Saturday, June 4, on County Rt. 54 in Cherry Valley.

The drill simulated a fatal accident in which a van carrying two people rear-ended a Cherry Valley-Springfield school bus carrying 12 students and a driver. There was also a simulated chemical substance spill, requiring a hazardous material team's involvement.

Shortly after 9 a.m., when the accident was scheduled to have occurred, units from the Cherry Valley, Springfield, Cooperstown and Middlefield fire and emergency squads started arriving on the scene. The Otsego County SheriffFs office, the Homeland Security Department and several other organizations like the Otsego County Red Cross and RACES, an amateur radio group, participated in the drill.

Participants in the drill were told not to use their sirens while driving to or from the scene in an effort to avoid alarming people, said Karen Little, Otsego County public information officer.

Volunteers from the Red Cross played the role of the walking wounded, including five who were critically wounded and another eight who suffered an assortment of injuries, fake blood and bandages included.

Critically injured participants were taken to Bassett Hospital's emergency care unit after triage determined which victims required the most urgent attention.

A worker explained to the patients who were not immediately taken to the hospital that critically injured victims are given first priority not only because of the seriousness of their wounds, but because they don't want all the doctors busy once the critically wounded begin arriving at the hospital.

The drill was designed to gauge how prepared Otsego County's emergency services were in the event there was an actual major emergency, said Lyle Jones, Otsego County head of emergency services.

"We need exercises like this so we know how to react during the real thing," Little said.

Jeff Woeppel, vice president of administrative staff at Bassett Hospital agreed.

"These experiences help us plan what we would do in the event of a large-scale emergency," Woeppel said.

In addition to the practice of basic emergency procedures, Woeppel said periodic tests allow the staff to see what areas need improvement and to assess resource capabilities.

Following the drill, Woeppel said Bassett was well-equipped to handle a situation like this if it had been real.

"We feel that we would be able to meet the need," he said.

Kevin Ritton, assistant emergency coordinator for Otsego County, said that overall, the drill "went very well." The only problem came when a Cherry Valley ambulance had a small fire, although the vehicle was back in service later that night, Ritton said.

Ritton said individual departments perform drills every month, but that full-scale drills take place annually at best.

He said a full critique of the drill will take place later this month, at which time officials will examine what worked and what could be done better in situations where the stakes are much greater.