As seen in Hudson Star-Observer, June 18:
First responders, hospital, school district held emergency training exercise in Hudson
Hudson Hospital was part of an emergency training drill on Tuesday, June 9 held at the Hudson High School. The Emergency Center and other areas of the hospital were engaged in this drill to ensure staff is prepared and procedures in place to protect patients, visitors and staff.
Planning for this full-scale training exercise started in 2013. The following organizations and agencies were part of the drill: The Hudson School District, City of Hudson, Police Department, St. Croix County Sheriff;s Offices, Hudson Fire Department, Hudson Hospital & Clinic, St. Croix Emergency Medical Service, the village of North Hudson Police Department, St. Croix County Emergency Management, St. Croix County Emergency Communications (911) along with personnel from the U.S. Army Reserve and Wisconsin Emergency Management. Conducting these exercises is a tool to help emergency response teams put into practical use the skills they have acquired. Upon completion of the exercise an evaluation was be given to all participants. The evaluations are part of a report created and sent to all agencies on their performance. The evaluation enables all involved to improve upon their policies, procedures and tactical operations.
Full-scale exercise - Active shooter drill: keeping it real
news River Falls, 54022
Meg Heaton
Hudson Star Observer
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River Falls Wisconsin 2815 Prairie Drive / P.O. Box 25 54022
The campus of Hudson High School went from calm to chaos last Tuesday as it became the scene of one of the largest active shooter drills ever conducted in the state. It began with an ambush outside the school and quickly led to the pursuit of “active shooters” inside the building and the rescue of those who were trapped. The drill went on for several hours as law enforcement systematically moved through the building.
The drill was the culmination of more than 18 months of planning headed up by the county Emergency Management Coordinator Kristen Sailer and team that included HPD Chief Marty Jensen, Dan Van Someren of the Sheriff’s Office, Tracy Habisch-Ahlin, Communications Coordinator for the Hudson School District, St. Croix EMS head Kim Eby, HFD Chief Scott St. Martin and Darren VanBlaricom of Hudson Hospital and Clinics.
St. Croix County Director of Emergency Support Services Steve T’Kach said history is an important educator in how law enforcement responds to mass casualty events like school shootings. When the first large-scale incident occurred in 1999s Columbine massacre in Colorado, officers waited to make entry to the building.
While law enforcement was combing through the high school, a triage unit was set up at the outer edge of the campus to treat the wounded before transporting them to the hospital. The real value of an exercise like the one conducted is in what people learn from the things that they did right and the things they did wrong. All of the participants in the exercise were asked to participate in a detailed debriefing and complete an evaluation at the end of the experience. Shilts said he was generally pleased with the overall response during the drill.
“It reinforces the training you have -- we all work better together rather than separately,” he said, “and (the exercise) was a good example of that.” This was the third full-scale exercise held in St. Croix County since 2012. The exercise in Hudson began in 2013 with a tabletop discussion-based exercise followed by a functional communication exercise in 2014 and then last week’s full-scale event “with all the moving parts.”
“St. Croix County Emergency Support Services appreciates and thanks all agencies involved for their dedication in preparing and allowing staff to participate in this successful exercise,” he said.