More than 400 military and emergency service personnel responded to a plane crash at an airshow on Sunday morning and while it was a gruesome scene, it was all a training exercise.

Volunteer victims presented a number of challenges for responders at CFB Borden, with the goal of presenting first responders with as many different scenarios as possible.

“We can do the triage, we can do the treatment, we can do the extraction of the patients and everything is in this exercise,” says Bill Sergeant of St. John Ambulance.

Responders are forced to prioritize the injured, determine who needs what help and where they can get it and who is lost.

“Regardless of whether it's in a scenario exercise or real life we treat everything like it's real and go in full force,” says Victoria Beaulac of the military police.

The exercise included members from CFB Borden, St. John Ambulance, the OPP and surrounding fire departments.

Following the exercise, participants met for what the military calls a "hot wash," a time to discuss what went well and where improvements need to be made.