Charity Muehlenweg posted on April 26, 2018 16:13
The City of Wagoner will have all-hands-on-deck Monday, April 30 as the city’s emergency services, employees and Wagoner Public Schools staff practice preparation for a tragic situation — in this case an active shooter in one of the schools.
“We absolutely hope we never need to use training such as this, but given the happenings around our country lately, I know that it is best for the city and its staff to be ready for this kind of tragedy should it come to Wagoner,” Wagoner Police Chief Bob Haley said.
Limited details will be released prior to the event to limit chaos, other than to let citizens know what will be taking place that day. There will be an area for the media during the drill, such as there would be should this actually happen.
The city has been planning for the drill over the last few months. Most every city employee, whether staff of one of the emergency services or not, will be involved in the drill.
Public Works employees and city street workers will help to block streets and navigate traffic, while EMS and fire run a mock triage center, transporting several ‘mock’ patients to the hospital.
A care-flight helicopter will take at least one patient, and police officers and other emergency personnel will infiltrate the building to eliminate the threat and take care of and remove wounded patients.
The Wagoner City Public Library and its staff made ‘fake’ wounds for the project, which will be worn by victims during the drill.
The drill will play out like an actual active-shooter event with the desire of the City being to prepare for every obstacle that could come into play during such a tragedy. Many cities and communities across the country are preparing and doing drills like this one.
Held on a day that school is not in session, next Monday, April 30, everyone involved in the drill will be volunteers or participants. No children or citizens will be used in the drill without prior consent from parents, guardians or the individuals.
Any questions pertaining to this drill should be directed to the Wagoner Police Department at 918-485-5511. Thank you for your patience and understanding as our city officials, employees and first responders work to ensure safety of our community and to make Wagoner a safer place for our students.