Responders gather for Pediatric Active Shooter and Trauma Workshop

Health care personnel, EMTs and law enforcement joined together at the Freeman Business Center in Joplin today in Joplin for the Pediatric Active Shooter and Trauma Workshop.

The workshop was designed to help prepare those on hand to effectively, appropriately and safely plan for and respond to a disaster incident involving children, addressing the specific needs of pediatric patients in the event of a community-based incident.

“We want to do a community response, said Skip Harper of Freeman’s Environmental Health and Safety and Emergency Management Department.

“All the shootings we have had, we want to do some pre-planning, with all the people who would be involved in an active shooter situation,” Harper said.

“Our goal is to get them in one room to start our planning process,” he added.

Harper pointed out that 376 law enforcement officers responded to the crisis in Uvalde, Texas.

Capt. Trevor Duncan one of the Joplin Police Department officers who attended said local law enforcement has had extensive experience and training in working together in multi-jurisdictional situations.