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First responders train for active shooters
Coweta County deputies and school resource officers train for active shooter situations in schools.
COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities in Coweta County took advantage of school being out to conduct an active shooter drill on Thursday. FOX 5 had a front-row seat to the massive law enforcement exercise designed to test the ability of first responders in an active shooter situation.
The Coweta County Sheriff’s Office said the training is geared toward patrol deputies as well as school resource officers. They would be the first responders in an active shooter situation.
The goal is to manufacture stress and then test a deputy’s ability to make decisions, what could be lifesaving choices.
"You know, they could making better decisions, being more tactful, rendering better aid to certain people so they’re not so stressed out and they’re not focusing on the task at hand," said Sgt. Nathan Mullenix.
The sheriff’s office has conducted active shooter training for its deputies for the past couple of weeks. Everything from breaking doors open to blowing them open.
In one training scenario, the responding deputies are called to a traffic stop in which a deputy has been shot and killed and the bad guys have fled into a building, taking hostages, and even shooting civilians.
The deputies were responding to the immediate threat, rescuing hostages, triage, and all the while dealing with anxiety-building distractions such as loud noises and diminished visibility with smoke. Role players shout what is often contradictory information. It is all designed to create the physiological challenges that law enforcement might face in a real scenario.
"Tunnel vision, rapid shallow breathing, memory loss whether it is short-term or long-term, basically the loss of the fine motor skills, and you need all of those things when you’re conducting any high-stress situation and in this certain situation, when we’re doing active shooter response, we need all of that stuff intact," the sergeant said.
Many of the deputies said they appreciate the training, but hope they never have to use it.
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