TOP PHOTO:  (Back row left to right) Donnie Davis, Robey Ward, Kevin Willett with Public Safety Training Consultants, Kamille McGlone and Karli Huguenard.  (Front row left to right) Carolyn Aldridge, Hollie Effers, Ethon Morgan, Caitlin Wilson and Bobbi Frazier.  (PHOTO COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)

KNOXVILLE, TN (WLAF) – The professionals of the Campbell County 911 Center completed critical training on Thursday and Friday.

The Tennessee Homeland Security District 2 hosted Active Shooter for 911 Professionals on Thursday and Critical Skills for High-Risk Calls on Friday provided by Public Safety Training Consultants (PSTC).  It was held at Rothchild Catering and Event Center in Knoxville.

These courses were targeted towards 911 call takers, dispatchers, trainers, supervisors, or managers. LEOs, Fire,and EMS professionals also attended. The objective is to facilitate effective and collaborative communications between 911 and first responders.  The courses were provided through FEMA/DHS State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSP) funds, so there was no cost to attend.

Several members of Campbell County’s 911 professionals attended Thursday’s Active shooter for 911 Professionals.  This seminar prepared 911 teams for any active assailant by developing new skills for workplace and school active assailant events, spill-over domestic violence, active assailants in large occupancy buildings, as well as other events in comparable locations. Skills focused on included call-taking, planning, and dispatching skills that can be put to use in everyday operations. Course content reviewed lessons learned from topical events to better prepare any communications professional for quick action.

Critical Skills for High-Risk Calls was a dispatch-focused class that helped dispatch centers prepare for high-risk events on Friday and was attended by the rest of Campbell County’s 911 professionals.  This course developed crucial skills that call takers, dispatchers, and trainers need for events that are a risk to either responders or communities. Developed from original research into Line of Duty Deaths (LODDs) from law enforcement events involving LEOs, Fire, and EMS, instructors of this course lectured on vital lessons learned from a communicator’s perspective. This course combined lecture, video, and audiotape review with PSTC’s innovative style of instruction, touching on the following events:

–          Responder Ambushes

–          Warrants / Search Warrants

–          Domestic / Family Violence

–          High Risk / Felony Traffic Stops

–          Business / Home robberies

–          How to make vehicle pursuits safer

–          Case studies of events with a positive outcome

–          Suspicious vehicles

–          Suspicious person calls

–          Mentally ill subjects

–          Restraining orders / protection orders.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 11/19/2019-6AM)

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