MIAMI DADE, Fla. — After the Parkland shooting in 2018, school districts across the state have ramped up their policies and procedures when it comes to active shooter situations.
At Miami Senior High, just days before the start of school, an active shooter drill is taking place to make sure local law enforcement is prepared to respond.
It’s a scary situation.
Monday morning, inside the halls of Miami Senior High, the Miami Dade Schools Police Force, The City of Miami Police, Fire Rescue, and Miami Dade Police are re-creating what it would be like if they got the call to respond to a mass casualty attack.
“it’s very important,” shared Chief Ivan Silva with the Miami Dade County Schools Police Department. “It shows the parents and communities that we are prepared, we have always been prepared.”
The district’s own police force conducts drills like this multiple times throughout the year.
The simulation tries to be as realistic as possible. A shooter enters school grounds, and the officer on site has one job: to engage the threat immediately.
After the threat has been stopped, the focus is on those who are injured, finding them, and treating them.
Officers then make a safe corridor to allow fire rescue to come in to help those inside and assist in safely evacuating. It can be a heavy experience for those acting it out.
“There’s a difference when you train, and nothing is happening, and when you actually put them in a stressful situation, you actually see a different part of them, and that way, they get to adapt and take that back with them. So that way, when the situation arises, they are ready and prepared,” shared Silva.
This unified approach is essential to ensure our students and school staff are protected. The hope is that what happened back in 2018 in Parkland never happens again.
“This truly gave me chills because I thought of the children,” shared the Chair of the School Board, Mari Tere Rojas. “I jumped. I had tears in my eyes because I can only imagine the fear and the horror that those students, teachers, administrators, and parents went through not too long ago.”
The school board said this year they have implemented a reunification center to provide families with standards and protocols to reunite with their children.
The teams are being prepared for the worst to respond with the best foot forward.
