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TORONTO - A staged exercise will be held on Saturday to test the ability of the Toronto area emergency system to deal with a fictional dirty bomb explosion.

The simulation, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., will involve both the Ajax-Pickering Hospital and Scarborough Centenary Hospital east of Toronto.

The goal is to see how health care professionals manage a large patient load resulting from a dirty bomb explosion on Highway 401.

The fictional scenario will involve crash victims and hundreds of people who panic when they hear that a van crashed while carrying a crude bomb that created a plume of radioactive dust.

Organizers will watch to see how hospital staff deal with a large influx of people looking to be checked for radiation exposure, among other issues.

The "actors" for the exercise will primarily be students from Centennial College, George Brown College, The Michener Institute, the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.