Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) will take part in a full-scale active shooter preparedness drill on campus on Thursday, Sept. 22.
The simulation drill, which will begin at approximately 7 p.m., will train GSHCS staff to prepare for their roles, responsibilities, and facilitate interaction with outside agencies and community partners should a shooting scenario happen on campus.
Good Shepherd will work with community partners to practice protecting our employees and to safely transport victims to a safe site. This drill will involve many local agencies and their support personnel, including:
- Good Shepherd Health Care System
- Hermiston Police Department
- Oregon State Police
- Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office
- Umatilla County 911 Dispatch Center
- Umatilla County Emergency Management
- Umatilla County Fire District #1/EMS
- Morrow County EMS
- Life Flight
- Air Link Northwest
- Multiple news media
“This truly is about all the agencies in Umatilla County coming together to demonstrate their commitment to the safety of our community,” said GSHCS President & CEO Brian Sims. “We are very proud that we have this opportunity to participate with other agencies across Umatilla County. There’s no better way to demonstrate how we serve our communities, even during a crisis.”
GSHCS will simulate locking down the campus during the drill for a span of approximately 2-3 hours. While the drill is underway, GSHCS will remain fully operational, continuing to care for patients needing medical treatment. LifeFlight and Air Link Northwest will simulate safe transport of the drill victims from the area to a safe location. Those near the hospital may hear and see our emergency response system and additional law enforcement officials at entrances.
“Community awareness is important for this event as we train and plan how to protect patients, Good Shepherd staff and emergency personnel,” Sims said. “The evening of the event we will have road signs and reminders on our readerboards to help prevent any misunderstanding that a drill is occurring.”
In addition to the valuable experience GSHCS staff may gain participating in this drill, staff have also completed pre-training including the “Run, Hide, Fight” active shooter education and additionally, a new emergency response communication system has been implemented at GSHCS.
“Good Shepherd is committed to the health and well-being of its patients, employees and working with our community partners,” said Sims. “Our intent is to make this scenario as realistic as we can to help prepare our facility and better understand areas of improvement.”
Any questions pertaining to this drill may be directed to Good Shepherd Health Care System via the website contact submission form at www.gshealth.org/contact.
