Volunteers needed for annual emergency response field training

Role players awaited assistance during Northwest's Missouri Hope emergency response field training exercise in 2019. Organizers are again seeking volunteers of all ages to portray victims and bring a sense of reality to the training. (Northwest Missouri State University photo)

Northwest Missouri State University will host its annual Missouri Hope emergency response field training exercise Oct. 1-3 and invites students, employees and community members to work in volunteer roles during the exercise.

Missouri Hope is a multidisciplinary mass casualty training experience at Mozingo Outdoor Education Recreation Area (MOERA) and the Mozingo Youth Camp that is required for students studying majors or minors in emergency disaster management (EDM). 

The event includes 12 distinct training exercises for Northwest students as well as emergency personnel in medical, police, fire and armed forces. Exercises include search-and-rescue, assessment of traumatic injuries and evacuation from difficult terrains, such as cliffs and rivers.

More than 600 volunteers of all ages are needed to play the roles of victims and bring a sense of reality to the training. Role players are made-up to resemble victims with an assortment of physical injuries sustained from natural disasters such as a flood, tornado or forest fire. Individuals interested in volunteering should register online by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28, by clicking here.

Missouri Hope is sponsored each fall by Northwest’s Consortium for Humanitarian Service and Education. Partner agencies include Maryville Public Safety, Nodaway and Buchanan County Emergency Management, Nodaway County Ambulance District, LifeFlight and LifeNet Air Ambulances, SEMA Region H Marine Hazmat Team, the 129th Field Artillery Battalion Missouri Army National Guard and the 139th Airlift Wing of the Missouri National Guard. The exercise also attracts students from colleges and universities throughout the country.

For more information about Missouri Hope and volunteering as a role player, contact Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Peter Adam at padam@nwmissouri.edu.