Celina/Clay Departments Complete Active Shooter Training

Active shooter emergencies. You often think of the response by police officers, but what role does EMS play?

The Celina EMS Department participated in an active shooter training with the Clay County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday. EMS Director Andy Hall said they focused on the tactical side of saving lives.

“It keeps us informed on how to work with the police in the event of an active shooter to go to what’s called the warm zone and actually start beginning helping people,” Hall said. “The cops stop the killing. We stop the dying.”

Hall said a law enforcement member practiced escorting an EMS worker to a victim for extraction. Hall said paramedics would then work on rapid medicine skills once removed from the danger zone.

“Stabilizing them enough to get them out of the danger zone to a safer place for further treatment,” Hall said. “We used tourniquets, direct pressure points, packing wounds along with working with the sheriff’s department to go in with you to act as your protection as you try to take care of a patient.”

Hall said the training was a shortened version, so departments are planning for another event in the future. Hall said TEMA and the Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted the training.

“It went good,” Hall said. “There is actually a two-day long class. We are setting up to get the full class done. With school coming back, we just wanted our people a little bit more trained so we can all work together.”

The Celina Fire Department and TWRA also participated in the training.