August 27, 2015 --
Representatives from the City of Albany Fire and Police
Departments, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Emergency
Management Agency, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Marine Corps Fire Department,
Marine Corps Police Department, Phoebe Putney Hospital System and City of Sylvester’s
Fire Department visited Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany recently to take
part in an active shooter mass casualty webinar.
The different agency representatives came together to learn tactics,
techniques and procedures used in California during an active shooting involving
injured people.
Steve Dancer, emergency manager, MCLB Albany, revealed
statistical data from previous active shooter incidents show there have been
delays in getting injured victims the care needed.
“Our goal is to be able to pull our first responders in with
the police officers to get those casualties out quicker with minimal
distraction to the first responders attempting to eliminate the threat,” Dancer
said. “Collaboration and training will lead to our success.”
“I was very impressed,” Eugene Anderson, assistant chief of
training, Albany Fire Department, said of the webinar. “I think it is good if
we can learn prior to an event and I believe this meeting has fostered that
today.”
The webinar suggested
the “first wave” of police officers’ primary goal is locate and neutralize the active
shooter. A secondary team of medical personnel escorted by police is also
dispatched to handle any victims. This procedure increases the probability of the
threat being eliminated faster and decreasing the number of injured victims.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of past events to use as
examples, Dancer said. “Fortunately, we are learning from those examples, which
will equate saved lives.”