Jackson Hospital got an unexpected rush of patients today.

It might have looked like a major medical emergency, but it wasn't. Jackson County officials were conducting a health emergency response drill. Even though there are no signs of it happening anytime soon, health officials have been warning about the possibly of a widespread infection disease outbreak for years now.

Drill instructor Greg Grant says Jackson County Hospital wants to be prepared if such an event does occur.

"This is going to help us a lot. This is our first drill that we've done that has been multi-situational, so were testing every skill we have in the building."

Jackson County hospital’s Rosie Smith says the drill simulates real life scenarios with actors.

"We have received in the drill information that there is a pandemic flu outbreak moving west from Tallahassee into Jackson County, so we are fully operating are incident command structure to help us prepare for this disaster."

Emergency crews are responding to the situations with their normal protocols to see what works and where they're lacking.

In addition to helping emergency responders get prepared for an epidemic community response team, Evan MCallister says this drill is also helping volunteers.

"In any major event you always have volunteers wanting to come out and help and in many times those volunteers become victims themselves."

Responding to a real life epidemic would incorporate every emergency agency in the area, from fire departments to citizen volunteer groups. That's why Jackson County Health Department’s Alice Pate says they are all taking part in the drill.

“I'm from the health department, working with the hospital, trying to mesh our programs together so we can better serve the community," she said.

Officials say making sure everyone knows what to do is a major part of containing an infectious outbreak. Officials say they will use the information they gain from the drill to help improve their response procedures.