Lifeguards, police and Coast Guard personnel were scheduled to begin a two-day mass-rescue exercise involving a simulated boat accident in the ocean outside the entrance to the Mission Bay Channel Wednesday.
The exercise will allow emergency personnel to practice and assess plans, policies and procedures related to maritime rescues, according to San Diego fire-rescue spokesman Lee Swanson.
Rescuers will respond to a simulated accident in which two boats with a total of about 35 people onboard capsize or sink, sending those three dozen or so people into the ocean. Some of those onboard will pretend to have died and some will pretend to be injured, Swanson said, noting rescuers will also have to deal with family members looking for their loved ones.
In addition to the ocean portion of the exercise, a medical triage area will be set up onshore to treat ''victims,'' he said.
