The medication dispensing drill will be at U.S. Cellular Coliseum on Thursday, Sept. 20. (Photo used under Creative Commons from Flickr user gmtbillings)

By Stephanie Pawlowski

BLOOMINGTON - On Thursday, the McLean County Health Department will be doing an emergency exercise at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

Department Spokeswoman Kera Simon said it's an exercise to simulate the county's response to a mass emergency, in this instance a release of anthrax at Illinois State University.

"The health department would kick into gear and open up an emergency medication dispensing pod site, that's what we call it," Simon said. "We need to practice being able to do that quickly and efficiently, that's what we're tracking ourselves, the exercise is going to test our capability to mobilize staff and community response partners."

Several agencies will be included in the drill, including the McLean County Disaster Council, McLean County Emergency Management Agency, PATH, OSF St. Joseph Hospital, Advocate BroMenn Hospital, Illinois State University and the Red Cross of the Heartland.

The dispensing site is U.S. Cellular Coliseum from 1:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.

Stephanie Pawlowski can be reached at Stephanie.Pawlowski@Cumulus.com.