Real-life training: First responders face fake bomb blast at Camp Randall Stadium

MADISON (WITI) -- A bomb blast at Camp Randall Stadium at the University of Wisconsin sends hundreds of first responders, investigators and other emergency crews to the scene. Before you get alarmed, this was only a massive training exercise.

The training exercise at UW was called Operation Wisconsin Dawn -- and was designed to test how local emergency agencies would respond to a large-scale disaster; one with a lot of injuries. The planned chaos began around 7 a.m. on Thursday, July 17th.

The sound of a simulated explosive device goes off as participants in a so-called fun run hovered around Camp Randall Stadium. It's a realistic scenario when you consider the Boston Marathon bombing. "Wounded" volunteers in Madison played up their injuries and emergency crews respond.

More than 600 people took part in the exercise, including more than 20 law enforcement and emergency management agencies and hospital. It was all part of an effort to make this training seem as real as possible.

"There's only so much we can learn in a classroom and by getting boots on the ground and actually responding to a very realistic situation helps us improve our response should something like this ever happen," said Marc Lovicott, UW-Madison Police Spokesman.

The training even simulated news conferences with fake reporters. UW-Madison police say planning for this training began more than a year ago. It's the first time the university's "emergency response capacity" has been tested at this level.