West Liberty University Holds Annual Active Shooter Drill
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West Liberty University's Main Hall was the site of an exercise Thursday that may save lives in the future, as the university's active shooter drill ensured first responders are prepared to neutralize gunmen and treat those injured in a campus shooting.
Various police departments and Emergency Medical Services that would respond to an active shooter at WLU gathered at the campus to participate in the drill.
Coordinating these different bodies promptly to apprehend the shooter can create the "safest verdict," explained West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bob Fowler, who noted that "safety" was of the "ultimate importance" during the drill.
First responders included the university police department, the Ohio County Sheriff's Department, the West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department, the Ohio County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, West Liberty University's Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), Ohio County EMS, Triadelphia EMS and Brooke County EMS.
Two law enforcement agents played the role of the perpetrators of the shooting, firing blanks from their guns during the drill. The first responder to the shots was the campus police, who then notified the Ohio County Sheriff's Department for backup.
The main focus of law enforcement initially during the drill was to neutralize the shooter, with policemen ensuring each floor of Main Hall had been neutralized before sending EMS in to treat patients.
Fowler noted that this strategy of neutralizing the shooting floor by floor has evolved over time. He explained that at the time of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the focus was on ensuring that the "whole situation" of a shooting was neutralized before sending medical service in.
"It took a long time during Columbine to get EMS in, so now law enforcement performs a floor-by-floor operation where they take EMS personnel in who have bulletproof vests to take patients out as quickly and safely as possible," explained Fowler.
EMS responding to the shooting arrived on campus with a pre-planned idea of the safest place to locate equipment and ambulances based on where the shooting was happening. Once they reached this safe area, first responders set up two different colored tarps with medical equipment so they were ready to treat patients as they left the building.
While the shooting drill occurred in the Main Hall, Fowler noted every building on campus is "pre-planned" in the event of an active shooter. This means EMS knows the safest places to locate near each building on campus and where ambulances can stay to transport victims off campus.
West Liberty students and faculty played the role of shooting victims. They were given scenario tags that informed EMS of the extent of their injuries according to a "red, yellow and green" triage system. Those who were the most seriously injured sported red tags and were first removed from the scene by EMS, followed by yellow tags and then green tags.
Fowler added that in a real shooting, those with the most serious injuries would be transported off campus to a hospital by helicopter that would land on the quad.
Following the exercise, those who participated in the drill gathered for a debriefing meeting to discuss what went right and wrong during the simulation and what improvements could be made.
"This drill is an opportunity to make sure that we're doing what we're supposed to be doing," noted Fowler. "We're following the state rules for a mass shooting incident, so when it does happen, we know what's best for the patient and the safest verdict for all of us."
Thursday's exercise was the second active shooter drill held on campus since the initial drill in 2022. West Liberty University President Tim Borchers explained that the university will continue to perform the exercise every year to improve safety on campus.
"We want to do this every year so that we can continue to refine our practices and procedures to do more to keep the campus safe," noted Borchers. "We appreciate all of our partners who help keep the campus safe. This activity is a good way to reaffirm those partnerships and strengthen the collaboration."
Fowler added that the collaboration between the bodies in charge of keeping the campus safe had improved since the first drill.
"I think great strides have been taken here in the last few years to educate the students and train them on scenarios like the one we did today," noted Fowler. "There were a few glitches today, but that's why we have the training - to learn and do better. Every time we perform this drill is important because it's an opportunity to improve and increase safety during a shooting."