Bloomfield Hills High School holds active shooter training
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A first-of-its-kind large-scale training exercise was held at Bloomfield Hills High School Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of teachers and staff, as well as police, fire and emergency personnel, were involved in the real-world critical incident training.
Bloomfield Township is doing this exercise so that first responders, law enforcement and school personnel are as prepared as possible in the unlikely case there is a tragedy.
The event took several months of planning, but on Wednesday, that planning turned into action.
Law enforcement agencies, fire departments, EMTs and school personnel worked together to learn the comprehensive critical incident training and how a split-second decision can be life or death.
"Training is so people can actually put it in their heads what they would actually do if this event were to happen so that they could think it through and have that in the back of their minds," said Carrie LeZotte, director of cable and community relations for Bloomfield Township.
The plan involved more than 500 teachers and staff members from Bloomfield Hills High School, with area nurses playing the victims and law enforcement officers responding to the situation.
The event included defense mechanisms, de-escalation tactics and medical training.
The media were not invited to watch the training but were debriefed once it was over.
Local leaders called it a success and hoped it was a learning lesson for everyone involved.
"Bloomfield Township Police and Dire Departments are extremely well-trained," said LeZotte. "They train like this and for events like this all the time. I think the community can have confidence that if anything happens the threat can be eliminated very quickly."
The training was mandatory for all teachers and staff, but they were not required to participate.
