Comanche County Memorial Hospital hosts active shooter training classes

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - On Tuesday, the Comanche County Memorial Hospital had its staff sit through the classroom portion of their active shooter training.

Participants watched a presentation on active shooting events and learned the ways to react if one breaks out in their workspace. The training was organized in response to a growing rate of gun violence across the nation.

CCMH Administrative Director of Safety Heather Love said, “For the last several years, we have seen the number of active shooter cases across the U.S. increase, and some of those have been fairly close to home. What we want is to get our employees ready and prepared. We hope that it’s something that never happens here, but we want to be prepared just in case.”

Training will continue Wednesday, where staff will run through a scenario simulating an active shooter. There will be no real weapons and signage has been posted notifying any visitors or patients of the drill.

“You know we’ve seen a number of instances around the country where people will think they’re going to be doing some stress inoculation where we’re going to surprise you and kind of test your response in a surprise fashion. In today’s climate with just the record numbers of violence, we’re seeing just in all of our communities that we don’t do surprise drills. Our line is we’re here to train you, not traumatize you,” said HSS’s Manger of Resiliency, Stephen Weiler.

He said it’s important that staff are walking away with useful information and not purely reacting out of fright.

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