Holdrege, Neb. – Sometimes law enforcement and emergency service personnel need to face harsh realities and prepare for those unlikely, but real, situations. That was the goal for area officers and first responders on Thursday when they held an active shooter training session at the Holdrege Middle School.
Just over 25 people came to the training exercise. Members of the Holdrege Police Department, the Phelps County Sheriff’s Office, Phelps Memorial Health Center, and volunteer fire and rescue departments in Holdrege, Funk, Loomis, and Bertrand all met to better prepare themselves for an event no one ever wants to experience. Their training lasted a little more than three hours as they worked through a few different scenarios.
Holdrege Police Sgt. Leland Rodewald organized the event along with Holdrege Volunteer Fire Department Unit Captain Rob Johnston. Sgt. Rodewald said, “This is training that is much needed, and it doesn’t happen often enough. It is necessary training for law enforcement and emergency services to get together, so everyone knows that they’re doing.”
Sgt. Rodewald said most exercises like this focus on the initial law enforcement response as the Primary Response Team would enter a “Hot Zone” or “Direct Threat Zone.” He and Captain Johnston used Thursday’s training as an opportunity to also work on the first response teams responsibilities after an area has been “cleared”. Those areas, known as “Warm Zones”, are where law enforcement would still have a presence as “security” as the first responders practice rescue triage.
The training allows each side to see how the other side works. This helps their cooperative effort to be more efficient and safer for everyone involved. It has been a while since the last active shooter training exercise, but the goal is to make it a yearly occurrence in the future. Sgt. Rodewald has spent 21 years with the Holdrege Police Department and has been a Sgt. since April.
