Approximately 30 different individuals from over 10 different organizations participated in an “active shooter” table top training drill on the South Georgia Technical College Americus campus recently.
“I would like to thank all of the different agencies and individuals who took part in the planning and implementation of this drill,” said South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford. “In the world in which we live today, we have to be prepared for a worst case scenario and that is what today has been about. We are conducting this drill in the hopes that something like this never happens.”
Individuals from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter County Fire and Rescue, Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, Americus Police Department, Americus Fire Department, Air Evac, Middle Flint Regional 911, Sumter County Emergency Management Office, South Georgia Technical College, Sumter County Schools, Sumter County High School and other local law enforcement, safety, and first response organizations participated in the table top drill.
Nigel Poole, Emergency Management Director for Sumter County, conducted the tabletop exercise, which is a facilitated analysis of an emergency situation in an informal, stress-free environment. It is designed to elicit constructive discussion as participants examine and resolve problems based on existing operational plans and identify where those plans need to be refined.
Following the actual table top drill, there was also an after action review to discuss different approaches and suggest improvements to current resources, plans, and training responses. SGTC plans to host a faculty-staff meeting in the near future to expand the number of individuals who are able to undergo this training.
All of the colleges within the Technical College System of Georgia are required to host an “active shooter” training drill. South Georgia Technical College Vice President of Student Affairs Eulish Kinchens SGTC Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Josh Curtain and SGTC Campus Safety Director Sammy Stone were the campus coordinators of the exercise and worked with each of the entities to plan the drill.
“The greatest thing to come out of this exercise was the cooperation of all of the individuals that would be involved in the event of a situation like this,” said Kinchens. “We had key agencies represented and working together to solve a potential crisis situation and that is tremendous to have that type of support from law enforcement and emergency personnel.”
SGTC Campus Safety Director and Police Chief Sammy Stone also thanked all of the individuals for their support and for participating in the drill. Members of the South Georgia Technical College Law Enforcement Academy also participated in the drill along with SGTC President Watford, senior leadership from South Georgia Technical College, the Sumter County School System, and Sumter County High School.