Wisconsin EMS Staff Train for Active Shooters, IEDs

Jan. 27--The teams moved quickly, but carefully as their eyes scanned for possible explosives in darkened corridors.

Groups of firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and police officers shouted instructions and warnings to one another above the din of gunfire and the screams of the wounded in the blast zone.

Once the first team, known as a rescue task force, swept through -- dodging suitcases, lunch boxes and other possibly hazardous objects scattered in an apparent explosion -- and assessed the situation, other teams came in to evacuate the injured. They carried the wounded to a safe area to be treated for their injuries.

The chaotic scene was a drill, part of a daylong training about how to respond to an improvised explosive device blast, offered at the Wisconsin EMS Association's annual conference. The conference, which ends Saturday, brought hundreds of first-responders from around the state to the Wisconsin Center in downtown Milwaukee.

This year was the first time the event offered specific training to address an IED situation, such as the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

"This is the next level," said Michael Wright, chief executive of Southeast Tactical, the company that provided the training.

Wright, who also is a Milwaukee Fire Department captain, led a session last year on how law enforcement and medical first-responders can respond to an unfolding active shooter situation. In 2014, he was a key force in the largest collaborative training effort between the city's fire and police departments that detailed the active shooter response.

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"But just because you're going in for a shooter doesn't mean you may not see a device," Wright said. "Booby traps, bombs are no secret and a lot of times they've been set up to kill civilians and now they're aiming at us, we're the target."

On Wednesday, the 60-person class moved from a downtown conference room to an under-construction apartment complex in Bay View. Milwaukee fire cadets posed as the injured, with bloody makeup and torn clothes. Class members rotated among a triage room and three scenarios, all escalating in difficulty with the more hazards and people.

The training is vital for out-state first-responders, many of whom are volunteers, said Teresa Brown, a course instructor and EMT from Boscobel in Grant County.

"In the rural areas, we have to think of this because we are few and far between," she said. "How long is it for us to get a SWAT team to where we are? How long is it going to take to get all the helicopters and ambulances we get for a mass casualty?"

Dylan Laue, a Dousman firefighter and paramedic, said the most valuable thing he learned was how to work closely with police and realizing the "fine detail" of identifying possible explosives on a scene.

"It can happen anytime, anywhere," he said.

And there's an important role for the public, too, in these situations, Wright said.

"If you see something, say something," he said.

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