The Boone County Office of Emergency Management will hold a simulated active shooter response exercise, on Monday November 21. The first exercise will be at the University of Missouri campus in Laws Hall from 2 to 4 p.m. The second will be at Southern Boone Elementary school in Ashland from 6 to 8 p.m.
Each exercise will incorporate sounds of gunfire, over 100 local emergency responders and 30 volunteers acting as real victims. Some volunteers will be wearing make-up, simulating actual injuries.
Elizabeth Thompson, a training and exercise specialist for Boone County Emergency Management, said the more realistic the simulation, the better prepared responders can be.
“We try to make the scenario as realistic as possible, because that of course provides the best training for our local responders, should they need to respond to a real life incident,” Thompson said. “So the volunteer victims will be in full makeup, with fake gunshot wounds, and other lacerations.”
The exercise will evaluate the coordination of 21 local emergency response agencies. Including the University Police Department, Sheriff’s Department, Columbia Police and Fire, Emergency Medical Service and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.