Valley Active Shooter Exercise - 2013
Before
Scenario
• A series of gunshots occur in the west end of the Spokane
Valley Mall. People are screaming and mass chaos erupts. One
armed individual is seen entering the arcade door. Mall
Security observes the armed individual inside the arcade and
begins evacuating patrons away from the threat. The
individual fires a shot and flees into the Mall’s lower level.
Mall Security calls 911 and reports the shooting with multiple
victims. Upon law enforcement’s arrival they attempt to
isolate, contain or eliminate the threat. Immediately upon
encountering the first shooter a second gunman opens fire
from the upper level. Law enforcement advances on second
shooter, who then takes hostage(s) and is contained in an
office in the west end of Mall’s upper level. SWAT and
negotiators are requested to resolve the barricaded hostage
situation.
Scenario Event, Simulated
Player Inject, Player
Action
Event/Action
0200
Scenario Event/Sim Player Inject
STARTEX. Sim call to Dispatch
0210
Player Action
First shooter neutralized
0213
Player Action
Fire Dispatch discussion on DMCC notification
0215
Player Action
Police carry patient out
0222
Player Action
DMCC contacts hospitals via HEAR system
0222
Player Action
Police carry another patient out
0225
Player Action
DMCC alerts hospitals via WATrac with update
0225
Player Action
First ambulances arrive on scene
0226
Player Action
First fire crew in building
0228
Inject
SO Dispatch notifies SO/PIO of media influx
0228
Player Action
Triage areas set up on scene
0235
Sim Player Inject
Sim page of DEM for MCV & MRC
0236
Player Action
First fire evacuation and reds begin to come out of building
0245
Improvisation
Fleeing attendees sent back into Mall to test security
0247
Sim Player Inject
Sim STA bus requested by Fire Dispatch
0255
Inject
ME office paged
0300
Player Action
Second shooter terminated/hostages released
0315
Player Action
SWAT stands down along with SO and Fire Dispatch
0321
Player Action
Last patient transported from scene
0321-0430
Player Action
Hospital play continued until approximately 0430
0324
Scenario Event
ENDEX
During
Participating Agencies
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
American Medical Response (AMR)
American Red Cross
Cheney Fire Department
City of Airway Heights
Colfax Fire Department
Combined Communications Center
Deaconess Medical Center
Deer Park Ambulance
Department of Homeland Security
Emergency Medical Services
Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Holy Family Medical Center
Kootenai Fire & Rescue
Medical Examiner’s Office
Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)
Newman Lake Fire Department
Northtown Mall
Panhandle Health District
Pullman Fire Department
Pullman Police Department
Region 9 Health Care Coalition Partners
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sacred Heart Medical Center
Saint Luke’s Rehabilitation Center
Salvation Army
Sheriff Community Oriented Policing Effort (SCOPE)
Sheriff’s Incident Response Team (SIRT)
Sheriff’s Office Dispatch
Spokane County Fire District 13
Spokane County Fire District 4
Spokane County Fire District 8
Spokane Department of Emergency Management
(DEM)
Spokane Fire Department
Spokane Regional Health District
Spokane Sheriff’s Office/SVPD
Spokane Valley Fire Department
Spokane Valley Mall Operations
Spokane Valley Mall Security
Valley Hospital and Medical Center
Valor Corporate Security
Washington Air National Guard
Washington State Department of Health
Washington State Patrol
Washington State University; College of Pharmacy
Players and Participants
•
•
•
•
•
Total – approximately 420
16 Controllers
36 Evaluators
19 Observers
4 Moulage
• 184 victims (red, yellow, or green)
After
Major Strengths
• The major strengths identified during this exercise are as
follows:
• Successful collaboration with multi-discipline participation;
established or strengthened existing relationships.
• Quick and successful establishment of triage area for
incoming resources and patients.
• Objectives focused on integration and participation for
multiple disciplines
• Impressive site location; outstanding support from Spokane
Valley Mall Security and Operations throughout exercise
design process.
• Great experience and knowledge imparted by
controller/evaluators throughout event.
Areas for Improvement
• Establishment of Unified Command early in the incident.
– Enables clear goals and objectives from inception of incident.
• Patients need to be advised on their respective symptoms and expected
actions and the associated behaviors they should exhibit.
– Ensure patients have vitals, injuries on symptomology cards
• Need strong leadership and community support/buy-in from inception to
completion of exercise.
• Need commitment from exercise design participants throughout process.
– Need for a common understanding of nomenclature and terminology between
all responders and exercise design planners.
• Separate Incident Command for exercise design and real world events;
provide better training and education to exercise design team.
• Develop Exercise Design guide to better prepare design team with exercise
development. Use of new Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation
Program (HSEEP) criteria.
• Better patient tracking procedures from treatment/triage to
hospital/discharge.
Where we are now…
• Spokane County EMS and Trauma Care Council
are working to change protocols for transport of
“red” patients more quickly.
• Also discussing combat medics to give early
treatment and triage.
• Unified Command being examined for additional
training and exercising.
• Quick access to patients (safe corridor) being
looked at for exercise.
• Exercise design lessons learned will be passed on
to EMOG