This is the question Winford Todd, director of Disaster and Emergency Services for Lincoln County was trying to answer when he, the coroner's office, area rescue squads, the county fire department and the school system joined to stage that very scenario Saturday morning.

"We're doing this for everyone's benefit," said Todd.

The Disaster and Emergency Services personnel have mock disasters each year, Todd said, but he noted that they do not always stage those disasters as realistically as was done Saturday.

Todd said that his office chose this particular scenario for a number of reasons, but he specifically cited the "wake-up call" that the May 14, 1988 Carrollton crash gave emergency personnel.

"We have 80 school buses that run up and down the roads up here, and we need to make sure that we are prepared in the event that one of them crashes," said Todd.

In Saturday's mock crash, 10 students were killed, 20 were severely injured and 20 others were walking wounded.

There to share his experience in dealing with mass fatalities was Carroll County Coroner Jim Dunn, who worked the Carrollton crash. Lincoln Coroner Bill Demrow said Dunn was a big help in assessing problems that might arise during such a disaster.

Also on hand to share experience and assist in evaluating Lincoln's response to the mock disaster was Lenny Shepperson of Boyle County E.M.S.

Though Shepperson and the team of officials who aided him in the evaluation will write up a formal critique of Saturday's exercise that Lincoln County will use to survey its response, they had one primary criticism and warning to give participants in Saturday's drill -- that they should act more as if the emergency were real.

"You need to train as though it were real or it will come back to haunt you," said Shepperson.

Shepperson also warned personnel against rushing into a situation. If Saturday's mock emergency had been real, everyone from the first fire engine and the first ambulance to respond to the accident would have died from exposure to the toxic fumes.

Shepperson said that, like the Boyle County response to the Danville's boxcar fire, Saturday's Lincoln teams were way too close before they realized what they had.

Stanford E.M.S. member Jeff Godby agreed, saying, "We just didn't do a good enough scene size up."

Some suggestions that came out of Saturday's brief critique of the mock disaster included creating a flip chart for 911 dispatchers that would tell them who to notify in various situations and, in the event of an emergency, to establish an incident command post as soon as possible.

Nearly 115 people participated in Saturday's mock crash, a number which Deputy Disaster Emergency Coordinator Janet Smith said made her very proud of Lincoln County's concern for emergency preparedness.

Larry Lewis, director of transportation for Lincoln County schools, said, "This today was a very unselfish effort on everyone's part to make sure we are ready in the event of an emergency." Lewis said that the exercise helped him see that every organization has it's own plan and that those plans don't necessarily work together just right.

Todd said he was pleased with the overall outcome of the drill. He said, "I think it's great for everyone to hold hands and accomplish a mission like this."