It will look real, but it’s only a drill.

On Sunday at 10 a.m., the Ogdensburg Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Heuvelton Volunteer Fire Department will lead about 200 emergency services and medical professionals in a mass-casualty drill.

Squad Director of Operations Kenneth J. Gardner said Thursday that the drill’s scenario is a multiple personal injury automobile accident on the squad’s property on Route 812 by the entrance to Route 37.

The drill will involve implementation of the St. Lawrence County Multiple/Mass Casualty Response Plan and includes at least 14 different fire and EMS departments in the county. Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center’s emergency room will receive the “injured” participants.

The drill was three months in the making, Mr. Gardner said, and had a relatively modest scope to begin with.

“What started out as a squad training day turned into this huge event,” he said.

A pre-drill meeting with representatives from all the participating departments will be held on Saturday in the Claxton-Hepburn auditorium, located on the Mansion Avenue side of the hospital. An Air Methods Helicopter will participate in the drill as well.

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