Luckily for the Junior Volunteers, it was only shaving cream.

But the exercise showed that even if they had been covered in a dangerous chemical contaminant, the new showers inside a garage bay at Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical Station No. 6 would have cleaned up the 20 youngsters nicely.

“Friday’s the last day of (this summer’s) Junior Volunteer program, and this looked like a good opportunity for us to test something and have fun,” said Allyson Leland, director of volunteer services at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. “What 14- or 15-year-old doesn’t like to have a can of shaving cream in their hand and be told to spray what they want?”

The participants were all members of the hospital’s Junior Volunteer summer program, for students who have finished seventh grade. About 65 youths are in the program, which involves them in hospital volunteer work and miscellaneous duties, such as testing the showers.

This was the first complete drill in which a group was run through the showers, which were installed in June in the bay just north of the entrance doors to the LMH emergency department.

The real fun came before hitting the cold showers, when the volunteers donned disposable gowns and gleefully slathered one another with liberal amounts of shaving cream, to serve as a chemical “contaminant.”

“It’s better to practice ahead of time, instead of waiting for the real thing to happen. That’s the purpose of drills and training,” said Paula Phillips, director of Douglas County Emergency Management.

Outside of a fun way to wrap up the summer program, the showers tested by the Junior Volunteers are meant for those who might be exposed to chemical contaminants or other hazardous materials in an industrial or transportation accident.

Mike Junod, 17, was happy to participate in the drill.

“I plan on being in the medical field when I grow up, and I thought being in the Junior Volunteers might help that out,” said Mike, who will be a senior at Perry-Lecompton High School

“When my mom was younger, she was a (hospital) volunteer, and she did this drill. She said it was a lot of fun.”