COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Ambulances, fire trucks and the Flight for Life helicopter spent the day at Pikes Peak Community College preparing for disaster.
Seven emergency agencies from Fort Carson Fire Department, El Paso County HAZMAT Team, El Paso County Civilian Patrol, Stratmoor Hills Fire Department, Colorado Springs Fire Department, American Medical Response and Flight for Life spent the day training in a full-scale simulated emergency.
"You always, in an educational institution, want to be prepared if any type of crisis happens like a fire, or a shooter," Allison Swickard with Pikes Peak Community College said.
Saturday's mock scenario is a shooting and bomb scenario of a disgruntled spouse of a PPCC student. Dozens of students are injured during the mock shooting and to make the drill as realistic as possible, PPCC students are covered in blood and screaming for help.
"It's very possible and likely this could happen at PPCC, so that's why we have exercises to train," Arthur Simental, El Paso County, said.
The all day exercise started with fire fighters in HAZMAT gear assessing the school for possible hazards and eventually clearing the area to other emergency personnel. Paramedics tagged and identified critical injuries and set up a make-shift treatment area. Severely injured victims are loaded in an ambulance and taken to nearby hospitals.
This is the community college's largest mock emergency in history. They've had smaller ones in the past but none with so much assistance from emergency personnel.
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