ST. HELEN- Safety departments throughout Roscommon County held a Violent Incident Training Scenario at Charlton Heston Academy (CHA) in August. The statewide training program is held all over the state to prepare emergency personnel for incidents with an active shooter in a public area.
Roscommon County Sheriff Edward Stern headed up the operation. Departments that participated included Richfield Township Department of Public Safety, CHA staff, Roscommon County Sheriff’ Department, Michigan State Police, Gerrish Township Police and EMS, Denton Fire and EMS, Roscommon County Road Commission, Gladwin EMS, Richfield Township Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Gerrish CERT, Police Auxiliary, Kirtland Public Safety, Roscommon Dispatch, Higgins Fire and EMS, Houghton Lake EMS, and the Roscommon County Victim Services Unit.
‘We brought this to Charlton Heston Academy to see what would happen in this kind of scenario,’ Emergency Management Director, Mike Beaty said. ‘We want to be better prepared so we had a collaborative effort bringing in teams through Local Emergency Planning. We hope to never have to deal with this kind of situation, but we knew we needed to be prepared for it, just in case.’
This is the third year that the training has been offered in the area, with previous trainings being held at Houghton Lake High School and Roscommon High School. Each school has one year of planning before the actual scenario. After three days of intense training, the teams spend the fourth day in a simulated emergency event.
‘It is our intent to get all of the bugs worked out now. We need to find and work on our weaknesses in the plans before we have to use it in the field,’ Stern said.
Fire Lieutenant for Richfield Township, EMS Basic and Reserve Officer, Holly Laskey was one of the many team players in the scenario. A veteran of the department, she was impressed with the training and how well everyone worked together.
‘The cooperation of everyone who came together with the common goal of protecting our kids was amazing,’ said Laskey.
‘The safety of our students and staff is held in the highest regards,’ said David Patterson, CHA superintendent. ‘The Active Shooter Training demonstrated a great coordination of efforts across many departments. As we move forward, we do so with an even safer school community thanks to the love and commitment of so many.’
###
Au Sable Media Group, LLC, is a veteran-owned company that owns and operates the Roscommon County Voice, Crawford County Voice, Michigan Boomers and Voice of the Au Sable.
Our focus is on the positive people and events that make Northern Michigan a great place to live, vacation, work and play.
We have been commercial printers and publishers since 2010, specializing in brochures, rack cards, magazines and other newspapers and publications. A new addition to our stable of marketing products are various promotional items such as shirts, hats, mugs, water bottles and much more.
Through our publications and website at UpNorthVoice.com, we cover the following communities: Roscommon, Houghton Lake, St. Helen, Higgins Lake, Grayling, Frederic, Gaylord, Lewiston, Johannesburg, Atlanta, Hillman, Fairview, Comins, McKinley, Mio, Rose City, West Branch, Hale, Glennie, Sand Lake, Harrisville, Tawas City, East Tawas, Oscoda, Au Sable AuGres, Standish, Omer, Sterling, Gladwin, Beaverton, Kalkaska, South Boardman, Fife Lake, Mancelona, Alden, Traverse City, and Waters.
Our staff regularly covers the following school districts: Roscommon, Houghton Lake, St. Helen, Grayling, Mio and Fairview.
We can also be found on Facebook at Roscommon County Voice, Voice of the Au Sable, Michigan Boomers and Crawford County Voice.
For information on promoting your business in any of our products please contact Tracy Constance at 989-275-1170 (tracy@ausablemedia.com) or Walt Smith at 989-390-5359 (waltsmith1955@gmail.com).
If you have information you would like to see published, email Theresa Ekdom at theresa@ausablemedia.com, or Elana Warsen at elana@ausablemedia.com. You can also enter calendar items at your convenience at ww.UpNorthVoice.com.
Au Sable Media Group is an equal opportunity employer and follows all applicable state and federal laws. Our corporate office is located at 709 Lake Street in beautiful downtown Roscommon, Michigan.
