Live-action active shooter drill scheduled for March 9 at Coker College
Coker College has collaborated with the City of Hartsville and several local emergency response organizations to hold a live-action active shooter drill on Coker’s campus on March 9.
Coker College has collaborated with the City of Hartsville and several local emergency response organizations to hold a live-action active shooter drill on Coker’s campus next week.
The drill will take place over several hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9. It will run through an active shooter scenario in real time, allowing local agency representatives and Coker’s emergency operations team to act out response protocols as they would in a real emergency. About 40 volunteers, mainly Coker faculty, staff and students, will play the parts of both perpetrators and victims.
Several community agencies will have representatives involved in the drill, including the Hartsville Police Department, the Hartsville Fire Department, Darlington County Emergency Management, the City of Hartsville, Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center, the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office, the 911 Communication Center, Red Cross and Darlington County Emergency Medical Services.
“Darlington County appreciates the opportunity to be able to join in this multi-agency exercise with Coker College,” said Mike McDonald, emergency management director for Darlington County. “We look at any opportunity to prepare for the safety of our residents as a top priority.”
The drill is scheduled to take place during Coker’s spring break, so most students will be off campus and regular classes and programming will not be interrupted. Nonetheless, Coker will have counseling services available after the drill for all volunteers and participants. Hartsville residents should be aware and prepared for unusual activity and emergency vehicles on Coker’s campus related to the drill.
“We’re so grateful to the many agencies and people who have collaborated to put this together,” said Brianna Douglas, vice president for administration at Coker College. “It’s unpleasant to even think about the possibility of something like this happening on our campus, but exercises like this are incredibly important for continuing to test and improve our emergency plans. We need to be proactive and prepared, especially where the safety of our students is concerned.”
For the past two years, Coker College has implemented many changes to improve the college’s planning and preparation for an emergency. Efforts have included overhauling the campus emergency operations plan, training faculty and staff in Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) protocols, placing emergency guides in every classroom and office space on campus and holding several tabletop exercises. March 9 will be Coker’s first live-action emergency drill.