Gillett school to host active shooter training

By: 
Warren Bluhm
Editor-in-chief

Oconto County Emergency Management plans to hold an Active Shooter Hostage Event Response, or ASHER, training at Gillett Secondary School on Feb. 22, Police Chief Shane Breitenbach told the Gillett City Council on Jan. 5.

The training will include fire, EMS, police and members of the school administration staff, Breitenbach said.

“The training will cover an array of topics, including designated safety zones, building structural limitations, tactical response considerations, emergency responder staging and media release protocols,” he said.

The training event emerged from conversations between police, fire and Emergency Management and local superintendents before the school year started, Breitenbach said. The goal is to familiarize everyone involved with the sheer scope of an active shooter response, as well as the physical structure of the Gillett school campus.

“Our school has a very unique layout, which is very unfamiliar for a lot of people; not so much for us. So in the event that something critical, God forbid, does happen, they have these groups familiar with the inside of the school — how to respond properly and safely,” he said. “When these things happen, you can figure anywhere between 100 and 150 different units are going to be coming from all over. Where do we put them?”

Fire Chief Kurt Hicks said when a similar training event was held about seven years ago at Oconto Falls High School, about 57 fire vehicles responded, plus ambulances.

“We have to get into triage, and there’s so many things that are involved with this,” Hicks said. “It’s all important that we have some idea of what we’re supposed to be doing.”