Local agencies taking part in active killer training at SC4

A police officer in tactical gear and a face mask burst into a building on St. Clair County Community College's campus Tuesday.

"Where's he at, the active shooter?" the officer shouted.

He checked rooms in the hallway as people playing shooting victims moaned and shouted in mock pain. More officers came in after the first to check doorways and assist the victims.

While the scene was designed to be as realistic as possible, it was only a drill. The Port Huron Police Department and other area emergency services hold the active killer training periodically so rescue crews can be prepared if the real thing ever happened, said Port Huron Police Lt. Nick Godwin.

"Unfortunately, in today's day and age, we see (active killer incidents) on the news way too often and we want to be prepared to stop the threat as quickly as possible to prevent loss of life," Godwin said.

The eight-hour training begins with classroom time in the morning and practicing components of an active killer scenario, such as how to break down a barricaded door or how to work with firefighters and EMS to remove and give medical attention to victims, Godwin said.

The training culminates with a large scenario in which an actor plays an active shooter. Police officers must neutralize the threat as quickly as possible, secure the scene, find victims, escort firefighters and EMS to the victims and extricate victims to waiting ambulances, passenger vehicles and a helicopter for transport to local hospitals.

Victims are then transported to Lake Huron Medical Center and McLaren Port Huron, where the role playing continues as the hospitals test their ability to treat a mass casualty situation.

"With these drills, we’re able to assess our ability to handle a surge of patients through our Emergency and Trauma Center, ensuring our processes are effective and our team members are able to respond to the situation," McLaren Port Huron spokeswoman Jennifer Carbary said.

Godwin said it's important to role play multiple scenarios because emergency workers learn more by acting out the situation. During the role playing, Godwin gives constructive criticism to the officers, and they debrief after each scenario.

"You can talk about it until you're blue in the face, but once you're there actually in the position making the decisions, that's when you learn and can repeat what worked well and fix what didn't," Godwin said.

The training will be held again Thursday. During the training, residents will see a large contingent of emergency vehicles at SC4's campus.

Cooperation among agencies key to responding to an active killer situation

Participating agencies include the police department, Detroit Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air Marine, the Port Huron Fire Department, Tri-Hospital EMS, SC4 security personnel, St. Clair County Homeland Security and Emergency Management, McLaren Port Huron Hospital, Lake Huron Medical Center and surrounding area fire departments.

Port Huron Fire Chief Corey Nicholson said a real active killer event would involve multiple jurisdictions and emergency services.

"Those type of multi-agency responses are inherently complicated; especially command, control, and communications," Nicholson said. "These type of exercises allow emergency responders to expose both strengths and weaknesses in these areas, and develop solutions and contingencies prior to an actual event."

It's important for police, fire, EMS and hospitals to work together, as each has their own unique role to play, Godwin said.

"The police, our main function is to provide security so we can get the medical professional people to give first aid and treatment to any injured or wounded, and we're keeping them safe so they can do their job," Godwin said. "They wouldn't be able to do their job without us, and we wouldn't be able to save nearly as many lives without them. So by putting us together, we're able to be much more effective."

Tri-Hospital EMS paramedic supervisor Bill Adams echoed Godwin's and Nicholson's comments, and added that the training is helpful for EMS services to stay up to date as their response to mass casualty events changes.

In roughly the past five years, county emergency services have developed their response to mass casualty events to implement the rescue task force, Adams said.

Instead of staging at a distance and waiting for police to completely secure the scene before EMS can enter and treat victims, police now escort EMS workers in to a scene as the situation is being secured to reach victims faster and reduce the mortality rate, he said.

"How we've changed is we need to put more skin in this game," Adams said.

The training is funded through a $27,871 Office of Community Policing Services 2021 School Violence Prevention Program grant. The two-year grant period also includes a $9,291 local match, the Port Huron Police Department said.

The grant, which provides funds for area departments to train for active killer events, allowed the department to host first responder training sessions in 2019 and 2020.

Contact Laura Fitzgerald at (810) 941-7072 or lfitzgeral@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Local agencies taking part in active killer training at SC4