In case of an actual emergency, please help those in need. That was the message Volunteer Fairfax sent to residents as they held an exercise Saturday morning to simulate community response to a disaster situation.

"Volunteers are needed in really crucial situations, so having people in the community come and give back is really helpful," said Volunteer Fairfax Communications Coordinator Chris Copley.

The proposed disaster was an anthrax attack, which called for volunteers to dispense medicine at locations across the county.  According to Copley, the process was to "recruit, place, and assign," and in an actual emergency would include assistance with transportation.

Organizers and attendees alike were impressed with the turnout which was in excess of 200 over the course of the drill, and believe that an actual emergency would see even more interest in helping.

"It's just an exercise, but people are still coming and showing that they're interested in supporting the county," said Copley.

Tracey Serle, of Alexandria, is a member of the Medical Reserve Corps, another volunteer-based organization, and was interested in other ways of donating her time and efforts.

"You get this many people getting up early on a Saturday just to come to a drill, I think in real life you would get a bunch more," said Serle.

Besides gauging potential turnout, one of the purposes of the exercise was to improve efficiency. Many attendees noted lines backing up and confusion as to where to go next, with organizers scrambling to keep things running smoothly.

"I think they're pretty well prepared, but stuff like this needs to be streamlined," said Serle.

"They've got the idea right, they're trying to account for having a lot of spontaneous volunteers and work out a method of doing it," Serle added.

The last time the Volunteer Reception Center (VRC) was used was when storms flooded Cameron Run and the Huntington area in 2006. Copley said turnout was good then, and believes the instinct to help others is a powerful one.

"There's just something about humans that make them want to give back during an emergency," said Copley. "It may take a little more work on our part to get the word out, but we're confident people want to help out."