Multiple law enforcement agencies teamed up with Garrett College last Wednesday and Thursday to offer “active-shooter” training.
The training, led by the Maryland State Police (MSP) and its Emergency Response Team, included both classroom and live-scenario components. A total of 35 officers from MSP, the Garrett County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the Oakland Police Department participated in the training.
“The classroom training helped familiarize our employees with what an active shooter situation might look like and how to respond,” said Chris Painter, Garrett College’s director of facilities, capital projects, and security. “The live-action scenarios, with our employees as role players, helped them understand what law enforcement expects of them in those situations.”
Painter – a former assistant special agent in charge of the Federal Air Marshal Service’s VIPR Teams, which trained extensively on active-shooter events and scenarios – said hosting the training at GC permitted local law enforcement to become more familiar with the campus.
“By training at the College, local law enforcement will have a better understanding of the campus layout should they ever have to respond to an active-shooter situation,” said Painter.
A total of 49 Garrett College employees – including GC President Richard Midcap – participated in the activities.
“You would like to think that an active-shooter situation can’t happen here – but that’s just not the case,” said Midcap, recalling the 2015 mass casualty event at Umpqua Community College in rural Oregon that left 10 dead. “The best way to prevent or minimize a situation like that is to train for it.”
The training emphasized the Avoid, Deny, Defend (ADD) – also known as Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) – options available to individuals involved in an active shooter situation. Presenters noted that each active shooter situation is different, and individuals have to determine in the moment what strategy provides their best option for success.
MSP also provided an Emergency Stop the Bleed training. The training was designed to provide individuals with the basic skills to effectively assist a victim with a serious bleeding injury, including applying a tourniquet to extremities when a wound is “spurting or squirting” blood.
“A significant bleed can bleed out in 4-6 minutes unless it’s treated,” said MSP Sergeant William Jansen, who serves as a flight paramedic and tactical paramedic. Jansen demonstrated how to apply a tourniquet and use other emergency equipment contained in a basic Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK).
Garrett County Public Schools also provided EMS and first responders with a training on how to deal effectively in emergency situations with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The training was led by Dr. Chelsie Manges, GCPS director of the Department of Special Education.
