ST. LOUIS – There’s a chance you might see crowds of first responders and hear some unusual noises Thursday at Busch Stadium. There won’t be a Cardinals game that day, but several hours of counter-terrorism training at the ballpark.

A large-scale counter-terrorism exercise is scheduled for later this week at Busch Stadium. Federal, state and local authorities, plus private-sector partners, will participate in the exercise, which is offered through The Readiness Lab.

Many expected to participate in Thursday’s exercise are training privately Tuesday in St. Charles County. Participants will meet with Busch Stadium’s head of security at Tuesday night’s Cardinals game.

The exercise is intended to help prepare authorities in the case of a locally-targeted terrorism attack.

“We will simulate an emergency operations center, so they’ll be in one room during the day, and they will have to simulate [the response] to a terrorist attack on the Cardinals stadium,” said John Scardena, a former member of the National Strike Team and the founder of the Readiness Lab. “We are providing the nation’s highest-grade counter-terrorism training.”

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Administration, and FEMA will be joining the training. There will also be officials simulating how to disseminate information through staged press conferences and other activities.

Thursday’s exercise is expected to run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information on The Readiness Lab, a brand of Doberman Emergency Management, click here.