to increase safety

In Friday’s mock disaster, a gunman, played by McCreary County Sheriff Gus Skinner, took C.C.H.S. Principal Sheldon Harlan hostage, shown above, forcing a standoff and gun battle with local and state law enforcement officers, who are shown below as they worked in close formation during a confrontation with the gunman.

Photos by Kathleen Gregory

A crisis response exercise that was held last Friday morning at Clinton County High School was geared toward one primary goal of all involved–making our school students as safe as possible in the schools and classrooms.

Kevin Groce, now retired, is the school district’s former School Safety Coordinator and came out of retirement temporarily to organize the mock disaster drill that involved close to 200 individuals, including about 145 school faculty and administrators.

The last such exercise was held four years ago, in 2009, involving a similar type crisis event.

All local emergency personnel and law enforcement agencies took part in the training, including Kentucky State Police, Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, Albany Police Department, the local S.O.R.T (Special Operation Response Team), Clinton County Emergency (ambulance) Services, Albany Fire Department, Air Evac, the Clinton County Hospital and where all situations where personnel are called to respond, 911 dispatchers.

Cyril Wentland, of the Kentucky Center for School Safety, was on hand to grade or evaluate the exercise and will soon issue results of the local evaluation.

Another familiar face to the mock disaster from four years ago was McCreary County Sheriff Gus Skinner, who again played one of the two gunmen involved in the fake scenario, aimed at giving faculty a first-hand chance to practice what they may do in a ‘real’ crisis situation and also further train all emergency personnel on their roles, which began with “taking out” the gunmen and making sure everyone in the building was accounted for.

The crisis exercise began at 9:45 a.m., when dispatch sounded the alert and the situation lasted until around 11 a.m., when the scene was cleared and all casualties or injured were removed by ambulance to the local hospital.

Groce briefly gave the scenario of the crisis, that being of two brothers who had become disgruntled with the school when one of the brothers had been laid off from the school and decided to take violence into their own hands.

Faculty played the role of students and teachers.

One brother had hidden in the bathroom overnight and the other had used a wedge earlier to keep a door propped open and unlocked. They first took the principal as a hostage and made him phone the superintendent, who without knowledge of the situation, was also taken hostage upon arrival at the school.

The perpetrators then began going from classroom to classroom to create as much carnage as possible prior to the arrival of law enforcement who basically engaged in a gun battle with the suspects, who were finally killed.

Meanwhile in the classrooms, teachers and students were doing what they could to stay as safe as possible, as well as defend the students, with some teachers barricading their doors and basically doing whatever they thought necessary.

Another principal who played one of the gunmen also used different criminal methods, including the use of bombs that were exploded and one bomb being used in a hostage situation on a school bus, Groce noted.

After the gunmen were subdued, and the scene was cleared, other emergency personnel such as the EMS and fire department were allowed on scene to treat and transport the injured.

Although the situation was only an exercise or practice situation, all involved acted as if the entire matter was “real life” in “real time.”

Following the exercise, a debriefing session with the majority of participants was held in the CCHS gym, with law enforcement officials, Wentland and Skinner fielding and answering questions from the faculty members, who did somewhat of a self-evaluation of their own actions. Most of those faculty members questioned what they may have done right…or wrong, but most seemed to feel the entire exercise was worth it in the long run.

A couple of teachers also noted during the debriefing that they were proud of how the situation was handled in the classrooms they were in at the time of the incident.

Groce said that four years ago, when the mock disaster was held, the school district received some positive evaluation comments, but noted there is always room to improve, including making sure that all doors to the school are securely locked, as one example.

There were also questions by some school personnel about following policy and procedures the district has in place for similar real situations.

All participants in the school district that took part in the exercise did have to sign a waiver. Although the exercise was primarily safe in general, the seminition used in the weapons may cause some burns and scrapes when a person is struck.

That seminition of a real bullet is made up of particles of soap, and when hit, according to Groce, does sting and leaves a mark but generally doesn’t break the skin.

A few participants, he said, were hit by the seminition shots, including the local sheriff, Skinner, as he played the role of a gunmen, and a three school district personnel.

One faculty member got soap in the eye from the fake shell and had it cleaned out by ambulance service personnel at the scene and another was struck in the head near the hairline. That person was taken to the local hospital as a precautionary measure, had a CAT scan taken, which came back negative, and was released.

Groce did commend everyone who was involved in the entire exercise, and noting that all people may not come out with a positive opinion of the training session, he feels the majority of individuals who participated felt it was a positive thing and came away with something helpful.

“It’s better to prepare and be able to respond in the right way,” said Groce, referring to the unthinkable and what could happen in real situations.