DAYTON — Several officers and medics held a training exercise at a local elementary school on Saturday.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, first responders from across the Miami Valley worked together on a mock emergency drill at Kiser Elementary School in Dayton.
They simulated steps taken if a school shooting took place
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News Center 7’s Malik Patterson was at the emergency drill. He said there were over two dozen officers, firefighters, and medics in full gear.
Video simulation showed a police officer playing the role of a potential shooter. As he looked to see which classrooms he could enter, other officers chased him in the drill.
David Gerstner from the Dayton Fire Department explained each phase of the drill.
“Law enforcement’s first response is never to shoot someone unless there’s no option,” he told Patterson.
Shortly after the lead officer caught the acting shooter in the drill, the remaining crew went into action to start saving lives.
“Law enforcement and EMS work together to go in and start care inside the scene,” said Gerstner.
Video simulation shows officers taking the acting suspect out of the building.
Patterson says as each wave of the drill continued, more victims came out. There were three different zones set up for injuries. Non-life-threatening injuries were green, serious injuries were yellow, and critical injuries were red.
“Over 50 actors today who have volunteered their time to get made up with injuries and role-play this for EMS and for our hospital personnel,” said Gerstner.
In the simulation, each person was evaluated. Medics either released the actors, took them to the hospital, or transported them to Dayton Children’s.
Benjamin Goodstein is the VP and Chief Ambulatory Officer. He oversaw the hospital’s portion of this mass casualty simulation.
“From triage, we will first handle the most injured or most affected children down to the least affected children,” said Goodstein.
He told Patterson that while they are confident in their staff, they can always use practice.
“This is a drill for us to find out where we have weak spots, where we have opportunities for improvement,” said Goodstein.
Gerstner told Patterson that these simulations are hard to plan and schedule. But they try to go out in this drill at least once or twice a year.
“It’s on us, police, fire, EMS, and hospitals to be prepared to respond when it happens,” he said.
After Saturday’s simulation, Patterson says each department will evaluate what it needs to improve on.
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