Emergency officials train for school shooting scenario

Local emergency officials held a training exercise Monday where they had to work through one of the worst scenarios imaginable, a school shooting.

Local sheriff’s officials and city police along with fire departments, EMTs and school employees took part in the full scale exercise. The groups had taken parting a similar tabletop exercise earlier in the year but Monday’s event provided a much more realistic situation for training. It was done with the help of a company called Management Experts out of Tallahassee.

The scenario was set up so that law enforcement and emergency crews had to respond to an angry mother and father coming to the Franklin County school with guns and opening fire. In the scenario there were 11 casualties played by local high school students, who were made up very realistically.

Nearly 35 law enforcement and emergency response personnel took part in the exercise including the Franklin County sheriff’s department, the police offices from Apalachicola and Carrabelle, the fire departments from Eastpoint and St. George Island, ambulance crews, school officials and even a life flight helicopter.

The training exercise began at 3 o’clock Monday at the Franklin County School; it took about an hour to complete.

Emergency Management coordinator Mike Rundell said the exercise provided a common sense approach to get people prepared for the worst. He said school shootings can happen anywhere and Franklin County wants to be prepared.


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