The chaos, confusion and emotions of a mass causality situation had a serious impact on students who went through the simulation at M&S Tactical last night, said owner Jeff McIntire.
Participants in the simulation first sat through a class, "Active Assailant Awareness for the Concealed Carrier," before confronting a realistic scenario dealing with several shooting victims.
The goal was to give those with concealed carry licenses practical tips and the psychological experience on what to do both to deal with the threat of an active shooter and how to assist victims.
The class focused on the Observe, Orient, Decide, Act (OODA) loop. They also received instruction what to do once law enforcement arrives on scene.
After dinner, a New York State Certified Tactical Paramedic taught field expedient first aid using supplies in which they would have readily available to them, as not every average citizen carries with them a tourniquet, an occlusive dressing, or hemostatic gauze.
"One by one, class participants entered the company's Active Home Invasion System and were confronted with the aftermath of a mass casualty shooting," McIntire said. "Chaos ensued and they were tasked with finding and triaging patients to either attempt to save or give some sort of potential life-saving intervention to using the skills they were just taught."
In the training room, participants found about a dozen role players covered in blood. Some of the role players were injured while others were just covered in blood. M&S Tactical staff assigned each role player a specific character to portray. Some acted as severely wounded people with injuries to the femoral artery, sucking chest wounds, gunshot wounds to the head, and other injuries. Children ran around hysterically screaming for their mother, and requesting each student to help them.
"This class was able to reach into the souls of each participant," McIntire said. "The environment created was all too near reality."
Photos and information submitted by Jeff McIntire.
