Students at Carbon High School were targets of an active shooter. This was a simulated event, however this headline creates sleepless nights for many people in our community. How do we combat this fear, reconcile this beast that we are forced to think about? The answer is, we become aware, we prepare and we practice. Today participants representing Castleview Hospital, Carbon County EMS, local law enforcement, Carbon County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Management, Southeastern Utah District Health Department and Carbon County SWAT partnered to simulate a mass causality scenario.

The scene involved students at Carbon High School being targeted by an active shooter after a fire alarm, much like the recent school shooting in Florida. Law enforcement arrived on the scene, eliminated the threat and triaged the victims. Carbon County Ambulance provided immediate medical care and transportation of victims to Castleview Hospital. Upon notification of the incident, Castleview Hospital initiated a communication to all employees through overhead paging and a reverse 911 system, advising them of the drill and what actions were required. An incident command center was established.

Employees, physicians, and volunteers on site were activated to help during the drill and additional staff members were called in to help. Once transported, Castleview Hospital was able to administer medical treatment to the patients. This field exercise provided participants working knowledge of a mass casualty triage system, hands-on experience stabilizing victims, recognition of gaps in interoperable radio communications, the opportunity to form a unified command system and apply stress management skills in a disaster.

We encourage the community to practice, to exercise, and have the tough conversations about what to do in an active shooter situation. If you encounter an active shooter situation try to remove yourself from the threat as quickly as possible, RUN in the opposite direction of the shots. If you are unable to run or the situation is to close that you would be in danger, HIDE. Hide in any spot that has little to no visibility, somewhere that makes you a difficult target. As a last resort if you cannot run or hide then you must FIGHT. Use whatever objects you can, chairs, vases, bats, etc. aim for the eyes, face or gun. Pose enough of a threat and distract the gunman, buy as much time as possible, allowing law enforcement to gain control of the situation.

Please watch How “To Survive and Active Shooter”, tips from the Department of Homeland Security. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4IJA5Zpzz4

RUN, HIDE, FIGHT