Active Shooter Drill Helps Beacon Hose EMS Train Tactical Emergency Casualty Care

More than a dozen Beacon Hose EMS members trained at the beginning of January in a Tactical Emergency Casualty Care class that culminated in an active shooter simulation at Woodland Regional High School on Jan. 14.

This EMS-focused training taught skills to provide emergency care in a chaotic situation with focus on rapid patient assessment, triaging, providing lifesaving interventions, and handling bystanders.

In the classroom portion of the training Jan. 7, members learned techniques and methods needed to treat victims of mass shooting situations while still in harm’s way. Some of the field treatments included application of tourniquets in less than 10 seconds, advanced airway maneuvers, and taking cover under fire. Members used pig necks to practice cutting open airways to insert breathing tubes.

We appreciate the cooperation of the Beacon Falls Police Department and Region 16, along with our instructors from Yale New Haven Hospital’s Center for EMS and the many volunteer actors, to make this happen.

Beacon Hose would like nothing more than to never need this training. However, we feel it is important that we be training and prepared if we do.

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