Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputies took advantage of several empty schools while students enjoyed Spring Break away from their studies. Instructors from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Newport Police Department presented Active Shooter Response training for dozens of law enforcement personnel as well as fire and emergency responders from around the county over a three day period during the break.
First responders had an opportunity to train in the Taft High School, Newport Middle School, and the Crestview Heights Elementary School in Waldport. Law enforcement training emphasized rapid deployment and response to a simulated active shooter / mass casualty event. Once law enforcement responders were able to confirm all threats had been neutralized, training efforts were focused toward working directly with fire and medical personnel to escort them into the schools as quickly as possible to begin patient care of wounded victims.
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Curtis Landers attended one of the training sessions held at the Crestview Heights School in Waldport. “We were very pleased with the participation from all of our emergency response partners in Lincoln County. The collaborative effort demonstrated by our local police, fire, and medical agencies was impressive to see during this training opportunity.” Landers continued, “Our goal is always to increase our efficiency and response speed to events such as these to eliminate potential threats as quickly as possible.”
“Working in close partnership and training together with our local fire and medical response teams increases the chance of survivability in mass casualty events, such as an active shooter, by deploying medical care into the scene as quickly as possible,” stated Lt. Landers. “Police and fire representatives were able to work together and identify response procedures that worked well and also some that didn’t. It was impressive to see the positive interaction between all of our first responders on such a large scale level,” said Landers.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office would like to thank the Lincoln County School district for the support they provide every year to allow this training to take place in their facilities. Having the ability to train inside our local schools is extremely valuable to all of our emergecny service personnel when responding to these types of events where every second is crucial.
The following agencies participated in the training:
Lincoln County School District
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office
Newport Police Department
Toledo Police Department
Lincoln City Police Department
Oregon State Police
TCB Security
North Lincoln Fire and Rescue
Depoe Bay Fire
Newport Fire Department
Toledo Fire Department
Siletz Valley Fire
Seal Rock Fire
Central Oregon Coast Fire and Rescue
Yachats Fire and Rescue
Pacific West Ambulance
To view a video of the training click on the banner below.
