Campus, News

inFocus: Active Shooter/Mass Casualty Drill

Cries for help rang through upper campus during a multi-agency response exercise Tuesday morning as first responders in full tactical gear swept through the quad among mock victims with simulated gunshot wounds and fake blood.

The “Active Shooter/Mass Casualty Drill” aimed to test communication between the campus and emergency officials, as well as the Student Health Center’s ability to perform triage in the field.

Long Beach Police Department, Long Beach Fire Department, University Police, St. Mary Medical Center and more than 150 volunteers collaborated to test response readiness in the event of an actual active shooter incident.

Terri Carbaugh, Cal State Long Beach associate vice president of legislative and external relations, said the exercise was a culmination of six months of training and a test of the effectiveness of the campus’ notification systems.

Hours after the drill, University Police issued a CSULB BeachALERT! about an armed subject on campus, ordering faculty and students to evacuate or find shelter. CSULB Spokesman Rick Gloady said the alert was not part of the drill.

The alert was lifted a half hour later, after University Police found that the subject in question was a contractor carrying equipment or a cell phone that had been mistaken for a gun. Police then said there was no threat on campus.

Carbaugh encourages all students to opt-in for the campus-wide emergency notification system, which can be found on my.csulb.edu.

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