Exercise exposes strengths, concerns

City of McCook law enforcement officers and ambulance personnel converge on McCook Senior High for an armed intruder drill Wednesday afternoon.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. — McCook police officers eliminated the initial threat of an armed intruder in 1 minute and 45 seconds during a drill at McCook Senior High Wednesday afternoon.

At that point, a change in existing practice took place, and paramedics were inside to treat “victims” in six minutes.

McCook Police Sr. Sgt. Kevin Darling said this morning that getting paramedics inside the scene of a shooting as quickly and safely as possible means more lives may be saved, rather than the injured dying for lack of treatment while officers search and secure a building and, in the case of a school, the campus.

Following the drill, Sr. Sgt. Kevin Darling puts away a non-firing soft pellet AR practice rifle (notice the orange cap on the end of the barrel). Darling said police officers also have non-firing soft pellet guns that match their Glock handguns. Darling said there were no live rounds in any of the officers' weapons during the drill.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

Darling said after the initial threat is eliminated, officers set up a guarded perimeter around medics and escort them to the injured. “This procedure - getting paramedics inside as quickly as possible to triage the injured — is on the leading edge of change,” Darling said.

The drill exposed some areas of concern, Darling said, but these areas can now be addressed and corrected.