DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — When it comes to being ready for anything, training is key. That’s why emergency responders across Vermilion County teamed up in Danville on Thursday to get some practice in.

Police officers, firefighters and paramedics lined the streets around Danville High School to conduct a full-scale emergency response drill. Multiple agencies and groups took part.

“It’s important that we all are able to work together in times of critical incidents,” said Danville Deputy Police Chief Terry McCord. “Whether it be natural disasters, man-made problems, whatever.”

Employees from OSF, Danville Mass Transit and Danville High School were also on hand for the exercise.

The goal was to make the training as real as possible. McCord said this training is vital when seconds count, whether it be a school shooting or a natural disaster.

“To be able to react without thinking, to be able to just kind of know what the other team member, or what the other agencies or the other partner is doing, it’s all about communication,” McCord said.

John Hart, the school district’s Assistant Superintendent, said training like this helps keep them ready should an emergency happen.

“We want to make sure that we have everybody ready if there were to be a critical incident within the school district,” Hart said.

This is not the first time the district has held training in Danville High School, but this was one of the largest events they’ve ever done.

“We’ve had similar trainings, but it just built and built and this year, they wanted to include as many agencies as they could,” Hart said. “As you can see from looking around, we have lots of agencies involved.”

Hart said he hopes this training will inspire other school districts to do something similar.