Brian Hagberg
YOUNGSVILLE, Pa. – It’s a scenario that everyone involved hopes will never happen, but one they know is important to be prepared for.
The Warren County School District and multiple Warren County law enforcement and Fire/EMS agencies participated in an active intruder drill at Youngsville Elementary School on Saturday afternoon.
“I hope we don’t ever have to put any of this to use,” WCSD Superintendent Amy Stewart said in a debriefing following the drill. “But on behalf of our kids and our staff, I just want to thank you for spending your Saturday here to learn this.”
The law enforcement and Fire/EMS agencies also participated in a Rescue Task Force Awareness training earlier in the day at Youngsville High School.
“An RTF consists of two officers and two or three EMS/fire trained (personnel),” said Tom Buttyan of Butler County Community College, who facilitated the training. “The officers go front and back. The officers are there to make sure a warm zone doesn’t become a hot zone.”
Essentially, Buttyan said, the RTF allows medical personnel to get to victims faster than they would without a law enforcement escort.
“Medics assess as quick as they can,” Buttyan said. “(They ask) ‘Is this patient worth taking out?’ If the answer is yes. Then they get them out.”
Warren Police Department Capt. Jeff Dougherty explained how response strategies to active shooter incidents have changed over time.
“The old mentality for the first officer on the scene was to wait til another officer shows up (before entering),” Dougherty said. “Then it changed to you’re there, go in. RTF allows officers to go in and tend to victims faster.”
Officers and rescue personnel were able to put theory into practice with the afternoon drill.
One of the volunteers for the day was designated the “shooter” and began firing blank rounds at just after 1 p.m. Law enforcement officers entered the building and, using simulated ammunition, neutralized the threat and took the shooter into custody.
“They were able to open up that door and get into that room very very quickly,” WCSD Safety and Security Officer Brandon Deppen said. “I have him (as being) in custody in nine minutes.”
Though the threat was neutralized quickly, the drill wasn’t perfect.
“The whole point is not to do it right,” Buttyan said. “So we make the mistakes now. The confusion is normal. It’s a valuable learning experience.”
As each agency examines after-action reports, they’ll be able to learn where any deficiencies are and make corrections. And while many agencies will see similar areas of concern, Buttyan said, there’s not a cookie-cutter strategy for these scenarios.
“The No. 1 problem is communication,” Buttyan said. “But there’s no one playbook that works everywhere.”
In addition to the first responders, the district also had a number of volunteers who portrayed victims during the drill.
“We had four ‘green’ (or walking wounded) and others with more serious injuries,” Deppen said. “There were two (dead on arrival). All but the two DOA were taken to the ‘hospital.’ (YHS was used as the “hospital” for the training exercise).
The blank rounds, which could be heard outside the building, and victim portrayals, which included cries for help and screams of pain, all combined to give the drill a realistic feel. Even for some of the officers who have participated in previous active shooter drills, the emotions and adrenaline were still intense.
“It’s eye-opening every time,” Conewango Township Police Officer Randy Carlson said.
“It never gets easier,” Dougherty added. “Your emotions, they’re real.”
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All told, Deppen said there were seven individual law enforcement officers representing Conewango Township, Youngsville Police, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Adult Probation, City of Warren Police, and Pennsylvania State Police. There were 30 Fire/EMS volunteers from across the county and 15 victim-actors who participated in the drill as well.
Additionally, observers from the Corry School District and evaluators from Crawford and Erie Counties viewed the drill.
“We have guests here from Corry today from their school system,” Stewart said. “They’re interested in putting something like this together. This is not something that happens everywhere else. So we’re lucky.”
