EMTs train for terrorist situation at 2012 RNC Convention

TAMPA - In a parking lot at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, two EMT’s are trying to figure out why their patient is having trouble breathing. These first responders are getting ready for the Republican National Convention, an event more than one year away.

"Hey Bob, what's going on man? What happened?" said EMT Mike Morris.

The patient looks like just a dummy but he's much smarter than that.

"It is so life like, it breathes, talks, has pulses, lung sounds," explained Eric Dotten, Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center.

The $100,000 mannequin is a training tool preparing Tampa first responders for emergencies at 2012 Republican National Convention.

"If it was to be a target for some sort of terrorism, we have to be on the lookout for signs of that type of emergency as well. Not just the normal heat exhaustion," TransCare EMT Liz Conroe told ABC Action News.

"We trained on stuff like anthrax poisoning, ricin poisoning. What do you do in a situation like that? Biohazards, chemical hazards, any kind of exposure," said Morris.

Dotten teaches first responders all over the state through a Homeland Security Grant.

"I would say Tampa is probably about 25 percent ready for a terrorist event. That's based on the training I've done throughout the State of Florida for the last five years. I think that there needs to be more funding and more education,” he said.

Dotten says there also needs to be more training in case real-life scenarios become real-life.