Erie-area police, first responders, and hospital staff hosted an active shooter drill Thursday, not knowing just how quickly those skills would be tested.

The drill was held at Emergycare headquarters and was led by AHN St. Vincent.

It staged an active shooter situation and gauged the response of police, firefighters, and EMTs before testing hospital staff as they handled a deluge of mock patients.

Overall, doctors and police officers gave themselves high marks, saying they responded quickly and effectively. They say drills like this aren't perfect, but they're among the best ways to simulate a real crisis.

"We prepare with these types of events for any potential mass casualty that could be from what we're looking at today, which is a mass shooter event," said Dr. Jestin Carlson, AHN St. Vincent. "However, things such as natural disasters or multi-car pile ups, those can also happen. A lot of what we train for and what we learn through these events can be applied across those settings."

"It was perfectly chaotic," said Dr. Scott Ducharme, AHN St. Vincent. "Even the scripting for where the people were supposed to go didn't go according to plan. The police officer who was acting as the shooter got taken out before he got all the way through the garage."

Although the drill was an active shooter situation, from a medical perspective, much of the training remains the same, whether it's handling victims from a shooting, a massive car crash or some sort of natural disaster.