Southwest Messenger - July 1st, 2018

PAGE 2 - SOUTHEAST MESSENGER - July 1, 2018
www.columbusmessenger.com
Police & firefighters make good use of old school
By Rick Palsgrove
Southeast Editor
The old Groveport Madison High School
on South Hamilton Road performed one
more educational function before it will be
demolished this summer.
On June 8, Groveport Police and
Madison Township Police used the now
empty school for training on how to
respond to active threat situations.
Additionally, the Madison Township
Fire Department held firefighter training
sessions in the school from June 8-11.
Police vs. active threat
“We selected the old school for our training
because we wanted to use a realistic
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environment and one in which our officers
were familiar,” said Groveport Police Sgt.
Josh Short. “We conduct this type of training
due to the nationwide increase in active
threat incidents and our desire to more efficiently
stop one if it were to occur in our
area. Using school locations is convenient
for us due to the wonderful relationship we
have with Groveport Madison Schools.”
Madison Township Police Chief Gary
York said officers were placed into a simulated
“active threat” situation in which they
were the initial responding officer and then
had to locate and render the threat inactive.
“We used the term ‘active threat,’
because not all incidents involve the use of
a gun,” said York. “Knives, improvised
explosive devices, vehicles, or other objects
could be used.”
York said, by going through the scenarios,
officers learned how critical the use of
cover and tactical deployment is.
“We attempted to make this training as
real as possible,” said York.
“Officers were given the details of the
scenario and then had to recognize and
react, while navigating the school, to eliminate
the threat,” said Short.
In the training scenario, officers were
“dispatched” to the school on report of an
active shooter with multiple victims. Once
inside the officer had to safely and efficiently
navigate the many halls, doorways,
stairs, and rooms of the large school to
quickly get to the shooter.
“Once you start the scenario, you are
totally focused on the situation, and it seems
like it took forever, but it was literally over in
about a minute,” said
Groveport Police
Officer Ernie Bell.
“It’s much more realistic
and much more
difficult when you are
shooting at an actual
moving person versus
a paper target.”
According to
Short, the active
shooter training session
was conducted
using modified
weapons that can
shoot blanks, to simulate
real gunfire,
and marking cartridges,
which allow
officers to engage
the threat with nonlethal
bullets.
Short, who played
the role of an active
shooter, described
his experience as the
villain in the training
session in one
word: “Ouch!”
York said officers
were provided limited
information and
then a stimulus - the
sounds of gun shots,
Photo courtesy of the Groveport Police
Groveport Police Officer Kurt Boso, who is also the School Resource Officer, is shown
here during a training session on how to combat an active shooter. The training was
held on June 8 at the old Groveport Madison High School on South Hamilton Road.
loud noises or a person with a deadly
weapon - where they needed to react based
on their training and experience.
“We placed the officers in a tough, realistic
scenario, which induced stress and
forced them to make quick decisions to end
the threat,” said York.
Short said that, once the shooter was
located, officers employed tactics on how to
penetrate the room to stop the shooter and
avoid injury to innocent victims. Officers
were also updated on proper procedures for
afterwards, such as radio communication
and first aid.
By this type of training, Short said, officers
experienced the negative physical
responses, such as tunnel vision, rapid
breath, shaking hands, caused by stress.
“Through exposure, repetition, and after
action assessment we want the officers to
overcome the negative responses so their
performance improves with each scenario,”
said Short.
Short said the training is important
because active threat situations are
increasing nationwide.
“As with any criminal trend, law
enforcement must respond with awareness
and training to ensure the public we are
committed to their safety,” said Short.
York said training like this keeps things
real for the officers.
“It shows them areas of needed improvement,
along with equipment adjustments
and basically what works and what doesn’t,”
said York.
Firefighters take on a challenge
Madison Township Fire Chief Jeff
Fasone said when the chance to use the old
high school for training arose, his department
jumped at the chance.
“Training opportunities are more likely
a residential structure in disrepair or being
cleared for other development,” said
Fasone. “Commercial structures usually
get remodeled instead of demolished. Old
schools can also be remodeled. So, when
you hear of an opportunity to use a school
for training, you pounce.”
Fasone said firefighters practiced several
scenarios that required advancing hose
lines charged with water long distances
and up stairs. This included fire suppression
techniques, forcible entry and downed
firefighter rescue in zero visibility aided by
the department’s smoke generator.
“Some shifts took time after the drills to
practice breaching cement block walls for
emergency egress from the building,” said
Fasone.
Fasone said the training sessions challenged
the firefighters.
“Hot days in full fire gear,” said Fasone.
“They would recon a fire alarm scenario,
locate the fire area, get hose lines established
to that area, then go ‘on air’ enter a
zero visibility area and have to force a door
to get to the seat of the fire. Once they
found the seat of a simulated fire they were
able to open the hose line and throw water
inside the room until told the fire was out.”
Fasone said extending long hose lines
can present problems that can be avoided
when you take time setting up.
“Some door locks were set a little higher
than expected, this made forcing entry in a
blind environment more difficult and these
doors were more robust than a door found
in a residence,” said Fasone.
Training such as this benefits firefighters,
according to Fasone.
“A lot of our training is computer or
classroom based,” said Fasone. “We can
build simulators and training aids to simulate
a task that needs to be done. But
that’s no match for getting to use the skills
you’ve learned in a hands-on environment
to add a sense of realism.”