UCSC participates in active shooter training

More than 185 first responders tactically moved through the campus of UC Santa Cruz in search of a fake active shooter. The campus police chief, Nader Oweis said it’s part of their annual training not only to stop the threat of gun violence but also to save lives.

“If you watch what’s happening in the world today, places like London and Columbia. This is just very timely training our intent is really to prepare officers and firefighters so that worst case scenarios they’re prepared to respond,” said Chief Oweis. “Learn to stop bleeding pack wounds rescue individuals that may be injured,”

Aki Williams is the founder of “Defib This,” a school with an emergency response training program; they train doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare professionals in resuscitative medicine, and trauma. Defib This also teaches bleeding control, CPR and first aid to law enforcement. Williams said training people to control bleeding isn’t difficult it just takes practice.

“Many of these injuries that occur during a shooting are survivable. Life threatening injuries that are survivable if we can get to those people in time,” said Williams. “We want that realism you have to have that wow factor to get by. If you’re going in and looking at mannequins and saying this person is bleeding or this person is screaming is doesn’t resonate with people. Once you turn that corner and you see somebody who’s a live action actor who’s actively bleeding that stay with you and you think how I am going to stop this bleeding.”

UC Santa Cruz has had instances where someone brought a gun on campus but never an active shooter situation.

“We just hope it never happens here but if it does we’re trying to prepare ourselves in case,” said Chief Oweis.

This is the fifth year UC Santa Cruz has taken part in active shooter training. The college plans to wrap up that training by Friday.