Area first responders put skills to the test in full scale training

Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette

The emergency call went out as a fire alarm at the high school but responding fire department units quickly learned there was much more to the simulated incident and backed out of the building.

Next, in stormed law enforcement personnel to the continued sounds of gunfire coming from an upstairs classroom. Two female Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office deputies made their way up the steps and fired pretend shots to take out the threat Tuesday during a multi-agency emergency response training at Seguin High School.

Members of the Guadalupe County Integrated Response committee hosted morning and afternoon full scale training sessions for the betterment of everyone in and around county, Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator Patrick Pinder said.

“We want to make sure our community and surrounding communities are prepared for an active threat to not only a school but any facility,” he said. “We are grateful to have Seguin ISD provide their facility to us to practice our skills we have been training on for several months.”

Tuesday’s training included simulation of a gunman posing a threat at a high school. As first responders arrived, they heard gunfire and called in law enforcement personnel, Pinder said.

From there, it was up to sheriff’s deputies and police to enter the building and neutralize the threat. Protecting people and victims inside the building was also priority.

Pinder said agencies involved included his office; Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office; Cibolo Police Department; Schertz EMS; Texas Department of Public Safety; Seguin, Navarro and Marion ISDs; area private schools; Seguin police and fire; Guadalupe County Fire Department and more.

Tuesday’s exercises were an extension of similar training conducted in late April with multiple agencies participating, Seguin Assistant Fire Chief Garrick Herbert said.

“This is a continuation of that training,” he said. “Stuff we did there was command and control. This is putting all of that together.”

In April, agencies worked through much of the command parts of emergency response to a huge threat, Herbert said. They went through the active parts of handling such a threat on Tuesday, he said.

“It was great,” Herbert said. “We had interoperability with Seguin, Cibolo, New Braunfels, (the Texas Department of Public Safety), Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office. We had an opportunity to make sure we could all work together.”

They learned what are each others’ strengths and deficiencies, he said. They learned where things clicked and what things could use additional attention, Herbert said.

“What can be improved is working together more often so that we become more familiar with each other and what each agency brings to the table,” he said.

Everyone who participated showed up in full gear to better simulate a real response, Pinder said. The plan is to have an after-action sit-down to evaluate the entire process, he said.

From there, committee members are able to better coordinate responses in the event of a major situation, Pinder said.

Last April’s and Tuesday’s training sessions aren’t the last, he said.

“We have others planned,” Pinder said. “This is the first one and then we’ll do an evaluation of this exercise and build on the weaknesses and move forward. We’ll do an after-action and hold a second exercise after several trainings and make sure all the officers and first responders are brought up to current standards.”

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