First responders treated a woman pretending to have an injured leg during the 2018 Missouri Hope emergency response field training exercise. Volunteers are needed to participate in this year's Missouri Hope exercise Oct. 4-6. (Northwest Missouri State University photos)

Sept. 12, 2019

Volunteers needed for annual emergency response field training

By Leah Newell, communication assistant

Northwest Missouri State University will host its seventh annual Missouri Hope emergency response field training exercise Oct. 4-6 and invites students, community members to work in volunteer roles during the exercise.

Missouri Hope is an intensive three-day training exercise that is required for students studying majors or minors in emergency disaster management (EDM). It takes place at Mozingo Outdoor Education Recreation Area (MOERA) and the Mozingo Youth Camp.

The event includes eight distinct training exercises for Northwest students as well as various workers in the medical, police, fire and armed forces fields. Exercises include search-and-rescue, assessment of traumatic injuries and evacuation from a difficult terrain.

Volunteers of all ages are needed to play the roles of victims and bring a sense of reality to the training. Role players will be made-up to resemble victims with a wide assortment of physical injuries sustained from natural disasters such as a flood, tornado or forest fire. Individuals interested in volunteering should register online before midnight on Monday, Sept. 30, by clicking here.

Nursing students tended to a patient inside a field hospital at Missouri Hope 2018. The Disaster Medical Operations Module of the exercise was designed to give medical students experience with a high surge of victims compared to typical care facilities.

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 Dr. Peter Adam at padam@nwmissouri.edu. For more information about Northwest’s emergency and disaster management program, contact John Carr at jcarr@nwmissouri.edu or click here.