With the objective of being prepared for something that no one hopes will happen, more than 40 first responders in Dutchess County participated in an active threat integrated response course. The training event took place at 26 Oakley St. in Poughkeepsie, a two-story office building that the county had purchased with the idea of turning it into a homeless shelter. The conversion plan did not come to fruition.
The response training course was taught by instructors from Louisiana State University’s (LSU) National Center for Biomedical Research and Training’s Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education. It is offered at no cost to local agencies around the country through a federal grant. Those who take the course then become instructors and teach what they learned to other first responders. Among the exercises were live simulations of active shooter situations based on actual events that have occurred in the U. S. within the past decade. Some of the participants practiced tracking down shooters while others treated volunteer victims who had simulated wounds.
“Active threat situations require a swift and coordinated response,” said Dutchess County Emergency Response Commissioner Dana Smith. “It is essential to train for such complex and challenging situations so our first responders can be prepared to effectively respond to save lives.”
A total of 14 local agencies participated in the training including: Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response; Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office; New York State Police; City of Poughkeepsie Police; City of Beacon Police; Town of Poughkeepsie Police; Town of Hyde Park Police; Arlington Fire Department; LaGrange Fire Department; Fairview Fire Department; Pleasant Valley Fire Department; City of Beacon Fire Department; City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department; Castle Point VA Hospital Fire Department.
Dutchess Emergency Response Deputy Commissioner Shawn Casta noted, “With the completion of this course, we now have trainers available throughout the county to expand this critical training to all emergency response agencies. This significantly strengthens Dutchess County’s integrated response capabilities to ensure public safety at large scale events, schools, and other areas where an active threat event might occur.”
According to Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino, “While we pray there will never be a need for our dedicated first responders to face such situations, we must be prepared. We are grateful to all those who participated in this training and will help us continue to strengthen our readiness and response capacity.”
