Medical Students Benefit From 'Active Shooter' Drill In Douglas County
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Colorado has suffered several mass shootings and active shooter incidents, and communication between officers and agencies has frequently been a problem. So on Wednesday agencies in Douglas County had a drill to find out how they could handle that type of call.
Tensions were running high during the drill. The first responders involved knew they were training but had very little information about the actual exercise, which was made as complicated as possible.
The drill involved multiple agencies, including the Parker Police Department, Arapahoe and Douglas county sheriffs' offices and South Metro Fire Rescue Authority.
The event started with calls of an active shooter on campus at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Several students had been shot and law enforcement had to not only find the one shooter, but two shooters. There were also bomb explosions happening simultaneously.
Dawn Cashman with Parker police said law enforcement agencies around Colorado have had to change the way they respond to certain incidents because of what they've learned from past events. She said Wednesday's simulation was one more opportunity to learn from mistakes.
"Tactics changed after Columbine, some of the fire tactics changed after the Aurora theater shooting. We're trying to get in, neutralize the threat, get to people who we can rescue, extricate those people to try to save lives," Cashman said.
The learning experience for Rocky Vista was twofold. The medical students were able to practice their skills in an urgent situation, but the president of the university said administrators also learned some things about how better to communicate if there was an active situation on campus.
