There was a hostage negotiation in Staunton Thursday, but this one wasn't real.

The hostage-taker on the phone was a volunteer, and negotiator Sgt. Kristie Siron's crew was getting some practice

"It's important to keep your skills fresh and there's always new ideas and to be able to be comfortable when you're the one on the phone," says Siron.

She says being the one on the phone means remaining calm in high stress situations.

For example, in this scenario, a parent was holding her child and an employee from the Office on Youth hostage at gunpoint.

"Today's scenario was very realistic. It allowed the officers good time on the phone to practice their skills," says Siron.

It also allowed negotiators to work hand-in-hand with the SWAT team in a full-blown scenario, which is something they normally only get to do twice a year.

"Information passing, gathering is the main objective and to make everyone come out safe," explains Siron.

"It's as close as we can get to reality without damaging property and injuring people or injuring officers," says SWAT team leader Sgt. E.J. Salemi

According to Salemi, the team never knows when it'll get called. The number of calls has ranged from more than 20 times a year to under ten. However, not knowing how often it will be called makes practicing more critical for the team.

"If there's a dry period where we're not getting called out for an operation, you get rusty," says Salemi.

However, they weren't rusty Thursday evening. Team members had to "kill" the hostage-taker to save both hostages.