Military Police assist clinic personnel drill for active shooter, real-world emergencies

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class John Brown | Schofield Barracks Health Clinic Staff and Federal Fire Fighters treat a simulated patient during an active shooter exercise conducted on Schofield Barracks on January 18.  

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, UNITED STATES

01.18.2018

Story by Sgt. 1st Class John Brown 

8th Military Police Brigade

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS - As sirens sound throughout the Schofield Barracks Health Clinic, a voice comes through the loudspeakers crisp and clear, "EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE. . ."

On January 18, an active shooter response exercise was conducted in order to validate the response plans and the ability of multiple organizations and agencies to work cohesively during a rapid deployment situation.

"Joint training, such as our annual active shooter event, allows us to work cooperatively with multiple organizations across the installation to ensure we can best serve and protect our patients and staff," said Sgt. Maj. Joel J. Thomas, the senior enlisted advisor for the Schofield Barracks Health Clinic.

"This style of training allows us to respond to emergencies quickly, mitigating the potential risk for casualties," said Thomas.

During the training scenario, an armed individual began firing a weapon within one wing of the clinic before attempting to move to other areas.

The individual was located and captured within minutes and responding agencies were able to return the clinic to normal operations in less than 90 minutes.

Battalion Chief Shawn Howe, Federal Fire Department Training Division, said, "It is important to participate in Joint Emergency Response Training Scenarios to identify gaps or limitations in our plans, protocols, or procedures and providing opportunities to share lessons learned, and to improve the understanding of individual roles and the roles of our partners."

"It better prepares us for a real-world event; we need to be able to communicate and work together with other agencies to mitigate emergencies," said Howe, "joint training allows us to practice and improve our multi-agency response."

1st Lt. Carrie Ferminpentivolpi, a Law Enforcement Operations Officer with the Law Enforcement Division of the Directorate of Emergency Services, served as the incident commander during the exercise.

Ferminpentivolpi said that she always looks forward to helping the community feel safer during any exercise that is conducted on the installation.

"Our training tends to be as realistic as possible," said Ferminpentivolpi, "it's purpose is to test the groups mental readiness and ability to react in a timely manner."

Thomas agreed saying, "Readiness is a top priority and this type of training can be utilized in many capacities; from responding to a threat at home station, or deployed, this training homes in on the ability of our entire staff to react effectively during dangerous situations."

"Last weekend, we all had a significant scare; we want our community to know, and be confident, that we are ready for all emergency situations," said Thomas, referencing a recent text message alert that was sent out erroneously regarding a ballistic missile threat to the state. "This training reinforces our skills to reacting to major events," he said.

Howe said that it is important for the community to understand that the primary goal for every emergency response exercise is to protect the health and safety of the emergency responders, the public, and the environment while minimizing the disruption of community activities.

"As servants of our community, it is our duty and responsibility to provide unmatched all-hazards response capabilities," said Col. Shannon-Mikal Lucas, Director of Emergency Services and commander, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, "We do that by bringing together the widest array of emergency response assets, agencies, and audiences to ensure the highest levels of safety and security to our Soldiers, Families and D. A. Civilians."

"This exercise is just one example of our continuous effort to synchronize our response while assisting in validating unit's emergency action plans," said Lucas, "thus, ensuring Soldier, unit, and installation readiness."

• Date Taken: 01.18.2018
• Date Posted: 01.23.2018 03:14
• Story ID: 262879
• Location: SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, US