US Military, Honolulu Police conduct joint active-shooter exercise

Members of the US Military’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam facility together with the Honolulu Police Department have held an active-shooter drill at the Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange (NEX), in a bid to boost mutual work in case of emergencies.

Aimed at offering real-world practise and to create a timely reaction to an emergency, the drill involved testing of appropriate evacuation procedures, medical assistance and apprehension of suspects in addition to assessing communications between the multiple agencies.

JBPHH deputy security officer lieutenant commander Matthew Clark said that the joint training involved Honolulu Police Department, Navy Security Forces, Naval Criminal Investigative Services as well as the Loss Prevention and medical personnel, in addition to partners at the Fire Department and K-9 unit.

"It is a great exercise to bring everyone together and work with each other," Clark added.

Response teams, formed as part of the drill, comprised four to five members from different agencies, including military service, base and Honolulu police and a JBPHH K-9 unit.

US Air Force Staff sergeant Adam Hershey said that first responders have been evaluated based on their capability to shift victims from the point of injury to the hand-off point where other first responders and medics are.

"Because of the threat level within the facility, the medics won’t be able to go to the victims, so the police force will have to either secure the scene quickly or provide escort of the patient out of that threat level," Hershey said.

During the drill, each of the established team was assessed as per their processes and performance, such as proper medical response to the simulated victims, evacuating unharmed personnel, dealing with allocated firearms during search and overall communications.

The planned active shooter scenario had the experience of a real world event and it was not conducted in reaction to a specific threat.

Image: Honolulu Police Department medical personnel responding to a simulated gunshot victim during the drill. Photo: Courtesy of US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Diana Quinlan.