Over 280 school, city, and emergency employees took part in an active shooter exercise at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, learning what worked and what to improve in their crisis protocols.
Ann Arbor Public Schools and city officials are pleased with how school staff and emergency services have successfully handled their first large-scale simulation crisis exercise in several years.
City of Ann Arbor Emergency Management Coordinator Sydney Parmenter says a big thing the city learned from this drill is to improve communication between multiple departments with more joint training opportunities.
“Departments tend to train internally. So, police and fire, for example, always don’t get the opportunity to train together.”
AAPS Executive Director for School Safety and District Operations Liz Margolis says while she’s confident in how the school would act during an emergency, they need to work on reuniting students with their parents.
“We need to fine-tune some of our protocols in response to events. Doesn’t have to be an intruder; it can be anything.”
The city and AAPS have tabletop exercises planned in the coming months to further hone their emergency response and crisis management skills.
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