Regional Efforts to Improve Preparations for Shooting Incidents

Emergency responders from across North Carolina and neighboring states are in the Triad for a special workshop.

More than 200 emergency responders, state officials, school leaders and investigators are in Winston-Salem. They are meeting Wednesday for a training workshop called Joint-Agency Response to Mass Violence Incidents. Speakers will focus on tactical responses, including: a school shooting, bombing, or events involving an active shooter. The all-day workshop will be held in the Anderson Center, located across the main campus of Winston-Salem State University.

August Vernon, an operations officer with the Forsyth County Office of Emergency Management, says recent shootings at schools and public areas require all communities to be on a higher alert. According to Vernon, some strategies are already in place in Forsyth County and state-wide. "Rapid Deployment Training is done in all 100 counties of North Carolina by law enforcement. Another thing we've started to work on and enhance is coordinating between the agencies," says Vernon. "Getting law enforcement, fire, EMS, emergency management, the hospitals and everyone on the same page of music. That's done through a tool called the Incident Command System, or ICS."

Workshop participants are from North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Meanwhile, Vernon says individuals can help keep themselves safe during a mass violence event by educating themselves on how to react. “Have a plan, be ready, do research," says Vernon. "We always recommend people watch the video, Run, Hide, Fight."

The training workshop is a closed event and not open to the public.