Imagine if you will being in a school and hearing an intruder alert. Shots are fired. Law enforcement responds and enters the building, not knowing what they are walking into. This was the scenario on Tuesday, July 16 and Thursday, July 18 as Clark County law enforcement officers participated in an active threat training at Loyal High School. Officers from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Owen-Withee PD, Greenwood PD, and Loyal PD participated in the training to prepare them for events they never hope to see. They also had some students portray victims and Loyal EMS participated in the training.

According to Chief Deputy Jim Hirsch, the day provided training in an integrated response to an active threat. Loyal EMS was involved in getting the “victims” out. They were trained in how to bring ambulances in to rescue victims while minimizing any threat to EMS personnel. After the shooter is stopped and the victims are dealt with, law enforcement continues to search the building for other possible shooters.

Hirsch plans to do the training annually rotating through all the schools in the county. He said it would be nice to do active threat scenarios in a business but that is difficult as the buildings aren’t empty. Schools are used because they are empty in the summer.

Officers entered the building and addressed the threat before taking in EMS personnel to help with removing victims. Victims were triaged on scene to decide who needed to be removed first. In some cases officers gave initial first aid to victims applying tourniquets to stop or reduce bleeding. On Thursday, officers also got to be pretend victims seeing things from a different perspective.

New officers get this type of training during their schooling, but for those who are currently here, training is important for them to learn not only the process of handling such situations, but how to work together. Multiple scenarios were gone through, with officers playing different roles in different scenarios. They may have been the first person entering the building. They may have secured the classroom where the shooter and victims were. They may have entered with EMS personnel, providing them protection. Or they may have remained to check classrooms for other threats. Or they may have portrayed a victim due to lack of student actors. Scenarios were completed both with a shooter in a classroom and a shooter in the gym.

But they all received training that will help them protect those in our schools and community should it ever be necessary. Hirsch is a certified Active Threat Integrated Response Trainer for the Department of Justice.