Active Shooter Drill Helps Emergency Response Units Prepare For The Worst

Realistic-looking wounds, officers with training weapons and a heavy emergency response made Monday morning’s active shooter drill in the Pennsbury School District look all too real, and that’s what officials wanted.

Radios chirped, emergency lights on vehicles blazed and officers rushed into the school following a simulated report of a shooting from an agitated parent opening fire at Charles Boehm Middle School in Lower Makefield.

During the drill and real-time simulated response, more than 40 kids were “injured” in the spirit of training. Some featured simulated bloody wounds and other mock injuries.

The scenario was penned by one member of law enforcement and every responding officer, agency and official was working to respond to the scene in the best and most efficient way possible. No students were actually injured, and school district and law enforcement officials seem to have gotten some kind of knowledge out of the experience.

Officers went in first and took the mock gunman into custody while aiding the injured. Medics and firefighters helped triage the wounded and transported to the hospitals with the assistance of St. Mary Medical Center and Aria-Jefferson Bucks County’s staff.

There were about 90 student volunteers who took part in the drill. About 30 came from the technical high school as EMS students, but the rest came from Pennsbury High School. In addition, there were 32 faculty members about 30 observers in the building. Students and faculty were made up at Pennsbury High School West before being bused to the district’s middle schools for the training.

“We are here today for a tragic incident at one of our schools,” said Lower Makefield Chief Ken Coluzzi as he gave a rundown to the press following the drill.

The incident began at about 10 a.m.

“It’s very important because these types of events happen too frequently, and officials need to be prepared,” Coluzzi said.

PHOTOS: Large-Scale Active Shooter Drill Takes Place

The drill was a collaborative effort from a number of police agencies, including the Lower Makefield Police Department, Falls Township Police Department, the Newtown Township Police Department, Tullytown Borough Police Department and many more agencies, including the Secret Service.

As the drill unfolded, school and police officials watched the activities from the auditorium of William Penn, the neighboring middle school.

“It looked to me as though it went fairly well, but we won’t know for sure until we get the final critique,” Coluzzi said. “Parents of Pennsbury students should be very happy and proud that their school takes this seriously.”

From the school district’s side, the drill gave the administration a chance to test its communication abilities in times of extreme stress, as would be the case in an active shooter situation.

According to Pennsbury superintendent Dr. William Gretzula, the school’s administration will hold many meetings and conferences over the next few months to revamp the district’s crisis response strategy for the next school year.

Falls police Lt. Hank Ward said law enforcement, medical teams, fire departments and school officials will meet to review the drill and seek improvements in response plans.

Back at the high school following the drill, parents were meeting their students volunteers to bring them home.

Shalyn Dougherty is a junior studying emergency medicine at the technical high school. Being involved in the active shooter drill made her feel more prepared, she explained.

“I was a little scared because you don’t know what is really going on,” said Chris Cook, Dougherty’s grandmother who was picking her up from the reunification point at Pennsbury High School West.

Dougherty was actually pronounced as deceased. Needless to say, Cook was very happy to see her alive and well.

Dave Oppenheimer is the assistant principal at Charles Boehm Middle School and volunteered to take part in the training.

“I got killed right away, but I think the police and all of the rest of the emergency agencies will receive valuable feedback moving forward,” Oppenheimer said.