Grays Harbor County Active Shooter Drill - Summary

Posted on: May, 1, 2018

On Saturday, April 28, 2018, an “active shooter” drill was conducted at Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen. This drill was at the request of Grays Harbor College and was financially and operationally supported by US Homeland Security Region 3, which encompasses Grays Harbor, Thurston, Pacific, Mason and Lewis Counties.

This latest active shooter drill was a continuation of ongoing exercises designed to practice response skills and coordinate rescue protocols between law enforcement and fire/ emergency medical service agencies. The last full-scale exercise was held in Elma in December 2016; this drill at the College incorporated agencies from not only Grays Harbor, but also law enforcement and medical personnel from surrounding counties.

In total, there were 231 drill participants, to include observers, volunteer actors and members of the Incident Management Team organizing the drill, from the following agencies: Aberdeen Fire Department, Aberdeen Police Department, City of Aberdeen, Central Mason Fire and Rescue, Cosmopolis Police Department, Hoquiam Police Department, Hoquiam Fire Department, Mason County Fire District #11, Montesano Fire Department, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office, Grays Harbor Emergency Management, Grays Harbor Communications Center, Grays Harbor College, Grays Harbor Community Hospital, Grays Harbor Fire District #2, Grays Harbor Fire District #8, McLane Black Lake Fire Department, Ocean Shores Fire Department, Olympia Emergency Management, Pacific County Sheriff’s Office, Pacific County Emergency Management, Shelton Police Department, Skokomish Tribal Police Department, Thurston County Sherriff’s Office, Thurston County Emergency Management, Thurston County Fire District #9, Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife, Washington State Patrol and Washington State Department of Corrections.

The drill tested Incident Command concepts, communication challenges, efficient and effective use of available local resources and helped to train first-responders. Grays Harbor Community Hospital was able to practice their mass casualty protocols because mock patients were transported to the hospital by ambulance from the College.

In hosting the drill, Grays Harbor College was able to meet their objectives of: understanding the College’s integration with the Incident Command System (ICS); familiarizing key personnel with fire and law enforcement response protocols; developed ideas for the College’s reunification plan; discovered first responder needs from the College and its staff; and tested the College’s emergency messaging and lockdown systems.

Drill observers from the College, which included President Jim Minkler, met after the first drill rotation to discuss what they experienced and the next steps for the College in preparing their Emergency Operations Center.

As expected, some portions of the drill response went very well while other benchmarks were a challenge, to include radio communications and organizing the extraction and transport of patients. The fact the skies opened up during the first drill rotation, with typical Grays Harbor rain, also created operational challenges.

But, as we like to say around here: “if it isn’t raining, it isn’t training”.

Two drill rotations were completed in the morning while the afternoon was used for skill building sessions for law enforcement officers and fire fighters to practice the advanced active shooter response protocols developed in Grays Harbor. Law enforcement officers and EMS personnel from other counties participated in the drill to learn more about the concepts; some agencies indicated they were going to take the protocols and lessons learned back to their own communities as they prepared for an active shooter response.

The Incident Management Team felt the drill was a great success as with each of the rotations and the training sessions, participants learned what would need to be accomplished in a real event, as well identified ideas to improve protocols to make a response more effective.

In addition to the agencies which participated in the drill and provided personnel for perimeter security and drill operational support, the IMT appreciated the assistance of The Shoppes at Riverside, Grays Harbor Transit, West Coast Portables, Washington Department of Transportation, Sears, and Safeway.

Chief Jeff Myers, IMT Public Information Officer 360-532-0892 x 105 or jmyers@cityofhoquiam.com
Lt. Kevin Darst, IMT Deputy Public Information Officer 360-538-4421 or kdarst@aberdeenwa.gov