Sunday, August 4 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Andrea Fox, Multi-Disciplinary Dispatcher, WCCCA
Attend a repeat of this session on Tuesday, August 6, from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Andrea Fox, of the Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency (WCCCA), brought to life a real threat that responders deal with daily across the nation. Active shooter calls for service are growing in numbers, and PSTs are affected by them. For anyone who goes through active shooter training, there is usually some assumed information that the trainers use during the scenarios. They usually set the storyline of it being daytime, in a target-rich area, a mass casualty event, and there are always plenty of resources. We all have come to know this is not always the case.
She shared with us a personal connection to one such call where, on a night in July, she received a call of someone throwing fireworks at the caller’s window waking them up at 0300. When the only two officers for the whole county arrived they, in the beginning, assumed the subject of the call had fireworks as well until they saw the rifle in his hand. For hours this subject was walking around the downtown area claiming to be shooting the cameras that are on the light posts and communications antennas. At one point the subject was outside of the communications center shooting as well. Andrea and her partner that night were dealing with this situation attempting to get units to assist. They were still answering administrative and emergency lines while calling people to activate tactical teams and get units on their way while at the same time listening to the gun shots right outside their windows. Hours later when daylight started to illuminate the sky, the air support unit was able to take flight and locate the subject, and the active threat was over.
Andrea pointed out in her presentation that active shooter situations bring with them a lot of stress for all responders including the PST. When we answer the phone calls and the radios in these emergency events, they can have a long-lasting effect on us long after the threat is resolved. Our profession has to take the mental health of the PST in these situations and make it a priority. She shared how this event, although not debilitating, has had a long-lasting effect on her to the point that when she hears something that resembles gunfire, such as a slamming car door, her mind goes back to this call and hearing those shots outside of her agency. The biggest takeaway from this training I got was the need for implement wellness practices and policies in the ECC. We need peer support systems, partnerships with mental health staff, and all necessary resources to implement fully functioning wellness support and resiliency programs.
Submitted by Christopher King
