Almost 15 different agencies responded to Richfield High School Nov. 16 as part of an active shooter drill. The drill lasted over three hours, and the following statement was shared by the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office:
As part of our continuing effort to find ways to better protect our students and our community, a full scale exercise was conducted at Richfield High School. The exercise included the lockdown of the school and an accounting for all students. After students were excused from school, role players were then put in place to act as active shooters inside the school. Several aspects of school security were tested. Resources that had been put in place, such as cameras and radios were used to aid in the apprehension of the suspects. There were some new tools being tested among the teachers and the law enforcement for effectiveness and usability. The exercise tested everything from initial response, incident management, Ems response, radio communications, patient evacuation, hospital triage and response, and more. We are grateful for the opportunity to test our preparedness and ability to handle this type of an incident. We found some things to work on and will continue to work on something that we hope will never happen.
“Multi jurisdictional active shooter exercise involving local law enforcement, EMS fire search and rescue classic AirMed and the hospital. The exercise tested response times, Communication, extrication of wounded victims to get medical care, tactical response, and mass casualty situation for the hospital. Overall, a great exercise to see our local entities come together and work for a common goal” – Detective Matt Obrien
“The drill went well. The evacuation of the school went well. All teachers and students were out of the school within 30 minutes. The 2 shooters were in custody within 15 to 20 minutes of the initial shots fired. The schools camera system was a great help in locating the shooters. Our first rescue teams entered within 10 minutes of the first shots fired and we had several self transport students exiting the school at 5 minutes in. Our first transport to the hospital was almost 35 minutes in to the scenario. A little longer than we wanted. Classic was canceled because of a transport they needed to do. All in all it went well. We learned a few thing to train on for the future. “ – Seviet County Emergency Manager Bill Taufer
“The participation was amazing. It was neat to see all of the different agencies come together and learn and grow. From a school district standpoint having that many firsts responders in our buildings is key. They gain first hand knowledge and familiarity with entrances and hallways. Students and teachers learn things and practice specifics that can’t be learned any other way. Every time we have these well organized community drills we learn and grow and improve the safety of the schools. “ Sevier School District Superintendent Cade Douglas
Agencies who participated in the training:
Sevier County Sheriff’s Office, Sevier County EMS, Sevier County Emergency Management, Sevier County Search and Rescue, DPS Richfield Communications Center, Utah Highway Patrol, Richfield City Police Department, Richfield Fire Department, Salina City Police Department, Utah Department of Corrections CIRT, Sevier Valley Hospital, Classic Air medical, Sevier School District, DIR-S solutions. We want to thank everyone who participated in the planning and implementation of this exercise.
