Stevens Point first responders conduct joint mass casualty training at area schools

PLOVER, Wis. (WSAW) - Now that most students are out for summer break, some school staff are staying in class to go through what could be some life-saving lessons.

In Portage County, law enforcement and EMS are going over the key points they need to know during an active shooter situation.

When an active shooter is in a school building, there is certain information education staff, law enforcement, and EMS need to know to help come to a safe resolution. Even though Friday’s event at Plover-Whiting Elementary was a simulated scenario, things can happen that can make response times worse.

The first step for everyone is to react.

“We can’t necessarily prepare for every one of those,” Stevens Point Police Department Lieutenant Joe Johnson. “We hope that the training that we offer allows the officers or the teachers to respond correctly, but ultimately we just teach our people the best thing is to do something. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”

Sometimes an active shooter is stopped right away, but in the scenarios they’re acting out this week, that’s not the case. There are matters for emergency responders and police officers need to assist with.

“It turns into what we call an MCI, a mass causality incident,” Johnson said. “So now we have a multitude who are injured or deceased that we have to try to get to help to get them transported and triaged as fast as possible.”

Education staff plays a critical role in this live training scenario. They’re told to act as emergency responders if necessary, but they’re also in charge of making sure students are where they need to be during and after a crisis.

“The primary focus of that is obviously getting medical attention for anyone who might be wounded or a victim and then also reunifying with families is a significant role our district staff takes on,” Stevens Point Area Public School District Assistant Superintendent Chris Nyman said.

Nyman says the training has changed over the years and the education staff is taught to protect themselves and those around them.

“Guidance for them is very similar,” he said. “It’s to get to a safe place in the building, barricade if that’s appropriate, exit or evacuate the building if that’s possible, and then again, it’s a very critical role for our administration team to be able to coordinate and execute the response.”

The Portage County Rescue Task Force and education staff ran through Friday’s scenario twice, just as they did with Thursday’s training at Almond-Bancroft School. They also made sure participants were given a new role for the second round.

Crews will be going through similar training again on Monday in Stevens Point at Ben Franklin Junior High School from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.