Wash. responders practice new techniques in active shooter drill

With a rescue task force, the idea is to get fire and EMS into scenes with law enforcement during what is considered a warm zone

November 21, 2016 09:50 AM

By Marilyn Napier
Skagit Valley Herald

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Sixteen Skagit County agencies participated in an active shooter drill at Skagit Valley College on Saturday to practice techniques for potential emergency scenarios.

Law enforcement, fire departments and emergency medical services (EMS) were involved in the drill, which focused on a technique called rescue task force, a new concept for Skagit County. It calls for law enforcement, fire and EMS to work together in situations such as an active shooter scenario, Skagit County EMS Mass Casualty Incident coordinator Earl Klinefelter said.

The goal, Klinefelter said, is to make sure first responders are prepared for these situations as much as possible.

“We certainly don’t want to be like Orlando, Florida, who wasn’t prepared ... so that is what this is about,” he said, referencing the June 12 mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub.

In the past, EMS and fire agencies were not allowed to enter an incident until after the area is secure, considered a “cool” zone.

With a rescue task force, the idea is to get fire agencies and EMS into scenes with law enforcement during what is considered a “warm” zone, so that they can treat victims more quickly, such as when a shooter has barricaded his or herself and is no longer shooting.

“Everybody has schools and churches in the area so we have to be prepared for that,” Klinefelter said. “That’s the new reality unfortunately.”

Sedro-Woolley Police Chief Lin Tucker said the training is one of the defining projects led by Skagit County Department of Emergency Management (DEM).

“This is really good training and preparation,” Tucker said. “This could happen to anyone at anytime.”

The training is setting the stage for 2017, he said, when all officers in Skagit County will be trained in the new techniques.

The rescue task force can be used in any sort of incident, not just for active shooter scenarios, Tucker said.

The most complicated aspect of the rescue task force is figuring out how to coordinate responses between different agencies, he said.

“Police don’t go in to patch up bodies, that’s not our job,” he said. “Our job is to get the people in there who do that best.”

Although Skagit County DEM and other agencies have been preparing for this training for about a year, Tucker said recent events like the Cascade Mall shooting in Burlington on Sept. 23 have pushed the need for training like this even higher.

“Mass shootings are culminations of all bad things that can happen,” he said.

Mount Vernon Mayor Jill Boudreau said she is grateful that local agencies are doing the drill and that it is important to support the training.

“We’ve been taking events like this seriously for a long time,” she said. “It is our given responsibility that we are prepared with as much training as possible.”

Klinefelter said the rescue task force technique is new territory for EMS.

“No one agency can handle an incident by themselves, illustrated by the Cascade Mall shooting,” Klinefelter said. “You need a lot of resources to come help you and that is what this concept is, everyone has to work together in a timely matter.”