The phone rang in the Endeavour newspaper lab at 1:12 in the afternoon. The voice on the other end told me that there had been a shooting at Bob’s Bar. My fellow reporter and I rushed to grab our jackets, cameras and iPhones and race to the crime scene.

            Yesterday marked Lethbridge College’s first inter-professional simulation also known as a mock disaster. Students from the EMS and Criminal Justice programs joined with Communication Arts students to stage a shooting that resulted in a mock casuality and two other victims.

            The purpose of the simulation was to prepare the students in different professions for what a real incident would feel like and how to interact and communicate with everyone involved.

            I was there as a reporter. I came equipped with an iPhone with access to a fake Twitter account and Facebook. I also had a digital SLR and notepad- hoping to find out and document what exactly what was going on at the crime scene.

            We ran to what they called Bob’s Bar which was really the Barn on the college campus. We stopped briefly to snap photos of ambulances and police vehicles racing towards the building then continued to run to the scene.

            The police tape went up immediately and we were left in the dark. I ran to an open window on the side of the bar, peered in to see actors covered in fake blood being assisted by EMS workers. I only had time to snap a photo or two before student police officers were escorting me back around the building.

            We waited patiently for the sergeant of the mock police force to come out and make statements, scrumming him with questions and prodding for answers.

            Two stretchers came out with the wounded victims and into the ambulances and we again scrambled to Tweet, film and take as many photos as possible.

            Our objective was to be able to alert the public on what was happening as it happened and put out as much credible information as we possibly could to alert the public to keep them safe and informed.

            It was fascinating to see so many students come together to dramatize such a terrifying event and handle it in a professional manner. It was hard as a reporter to ask questions directly on the scene where in real life, people would be hectic, stressed out and somewhat traumatized.

            I had to remember that my role was important to the public, whom police, EMS and the media all serve and that my job was to get in there and not feel intimidated.

            Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to organize and take part in this valuable experience.