HELENA — Helena police and firefighters are learning more about the importance of active shooter safety and how to work together in potentially dangerous scenarios.
On Friday afternoon at Lincoln Elementary School, there was an active shooter training course, where officials portrayed a real-life shooter incident with airsoft pistols and ear plugs as emergency responders learned how to properly handle rescuing victims from the hypothetical incident.
Brett Petty, Helena Police Department lieutenant, and Ken Wood, Helena Fire Department fire chief, spoke with MTN about the importance of the tactical training and operating together as a team.
“The importance of today is the active shooter response training that we’re conducting joint[ly] with the Helena Fire Department, and we haven’t done a training like this for quite some time and ha[d] both agencies involved in a training like this,” said Petty.
Wood agreed, saying, “We work together on the street a lot […] but to actually train together, this is pretty unique, and I think it speaks very highly of both agencies and our ability to work together and meet the needs of the community.”
Adding fire to the potential shooter scenario helped Helena police and firefighters understand how each other would respond during the situation and what steps are necessary to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the situation.
-Reported by Christine Sullivan/MTN News
