SPRING VALLEY, Illinois-- First responders and the Bureau County Emergency Management Agency ran through a multiple tornado drill throughout the county on September 29.
They believe you can never be too prepared when a natural disaster strikes. Here in the Midwest tornadoes are a big concern.
"What we're trying to do is plan how the fire departments would respond, how the ambulances would respond the hospitals, the long term care facilities how they are going to respond to those types of incidents if they have to," said Quentin Buffington.
They evacuated three hospitals in the county, going through real life scenarios with volunteers in the community. Carting them out of the building one by one. Allowing first responders to see what works and what doesn't before real lives are on the line.
"Communication is always a big thing in a tornado incident, you're gonna have cell towers down, you're gonna have power outages you're going to have things that aren't going to work," said Buffington.
Even though it wasn't a tornado, what happened between first responders and the community on 9/11 taught everybody a lesson.
"New York City practiced their plans on a regular basis and that really taught everybody that the need to practice is very important," said Buffington.
Buffington believes practices like this one can save lives.