On Saturday, February 25th, 2023, Royal Valley School District hosted an active shooter training exercise at the Royal Valley High School in Hoyt.
PBPN Police and Fire joined the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Jackson County Emergency Management, Hoyt Fire Department, Jackson County EMS, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Hoyt Police Department, and other area public safety agencies took part in this training.
PBPN Police Chief Terry Clark said, “These kinds of situations are hard for people to think about because they are some of our worst fears. It’s just the reality of the world we live in that, in our line of work, we not only have to think about things like this, but we also have to prepare for them.” He added that bringing as many area first responders together to train together is an important step toward making sure that law enforcement and emergency medical services can work together as a team to protect those they serve.
Clark said, “The most recent exercise gave us the opportunity to work as a team and look at those areas needing improvement or additional training. I was impressed with the willingness that all showed to have the cohesive mindset required when responding to these types of incidents.”
PBPN Fire Department Chief Doug Schreiner, said, “It was a great inter-agency training event to help prepare us for something we pray will never happen, but we must be ready for. The cooperation and teamwork were phenomenal. Everyone was glad to see each other there to help and we had a lot of good problem-solving discussions. During the live action scenarios, we all worked seamlessly together as one team regardless of what uniform we wore or what agency we represented. The training was very beneficial.”
Royal Valley School District staff and students also assisted in the training adding real-world tension and urgency to the training day. School staff practiced doing what they would do in an emergency situation by locking down the school, warning others and sheltering. Students played the parts of the injured and provided real-world distractions for the responders.