First responders treated a woman pretending to have an injured leg during the 2018 Missouri Hope emergency response field training exercise. (Northwest Missouri State University photos)

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

Missouri Hope is an intensive three-day training exercise which 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, September 30 at:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8WlnGrCTnehengZtfDzP81tv5yQFv8FVvuI2VF4HEbrgwiQ/viewform

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.