PHOTO CAPTION: Several area emergency response agencies participated in Thursday’s critical incident response training at the New Mexico State University campus. (NMSU photo by Tatiana Favela) IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A group of people standing outside of a campus building.
Planning and preparing for a large-scale emergency is critical for every community, including the New Mexico State University campus. On Thursday, emergency responders from throughout the area successfully completed a training exercise to practice how they would respond to an active shooter incident on campus when seconds count.
The NMSU Police Department conducted the multi-agency critical incident response training and crisis management exercise Thursday morning at Young Hall on campus, where NMSU’s Air Force and Army ROTC programs are housed, successfully neutralizing the simulated threat scenario in a matter of minutes.
“We want to be able to test our response, specifically from our first responders, to test our protocols and make sure that we can make any response improvements,” said NMSU Police Chief Justin Dunivan. “We wanted to make sure that we would be able to properly respond.”
The training exercise involved a simulation of the NMSU Police response plan to help ensure a coordinated, timely and effective response and recovery in the event of a major incident such as an active shooter. Thursday’s event was modeled after a real shooting in March that targeted an ROTC group at the Old Dominion University campus.
The goal, Dunivan said, is always to ensure that campus responders are as prepared and effective as possible when a real emergency arises.
“We always want to make sure we’re reducing our response time,” Dunivan said. “We’re always trying to enhance our communication from the emergency notification aspect, all the way to making sure we’re working in collaboration with the fire department as part of our rescue task force.”
Dunivan said during Thursday’s exercise, students from NMSU’s student government organization and the Dean of Students office who participated as role players were also able to observe and learn what to expect, along with faculty from the ROTC departments on campus.
“In an incident like this, we want to minimize casualties, save lives, preserve lives and, most importantly, build trust within the community,” Dunivan said.
Students, faculty, staff and other community members are encouraged to reference the NMSU ARP 16.10 regarding emergency preparedness and response.
State and local agencies participating in the exercise included the NMSU Fire Department, Las Cruces Police, Mesilla Marshals, Dona Ana Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police.