Visitors at Grand River Hospital on Tuesday were greeted with police tape, flyers and posted notices informing them of an active shooter exercise, “Shots Fired,” held in the hospital that afternoon. 

Sponsored by Grand River Health and organized by Becky Needham, Grand River Health trauma program manager and emergency preparedness coordinator, the exercise simulated a scenario in which a person with a gun entered the hospital and began shooting a large number of victims. 

Actors, evaluators and participants from multiple organizations, including the Rifle Police Department, Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and Colorado River Fire and Rescue, took part in the exercise, testing hospital policy and procedures while practicing the multi-organization collaboration required to handle an active shooter situation. 

An actor playing the shooter followed a designated route throughout the hospital, testing doors and interacting with other actors. Hospital staff enacted emergency preparedness procedures and evaluators, stationed in designated areas of the exercise, assessed the performance of their respective departments. Specified exercise participants simulated a 911 call to request emergency services and players, or officials, medical personnel, or any agency with an active role in responding to the simulated emergency, practiced securing the hospital and cared for actors who had been “injured” in the scenario. 

The exercise lasted for around 40 minutes. After the “all clear” was given, all scenario participants gathered to discuss how the exercise went and identify areas of possible improvement. 

“Shots Fired” was beneficial for every participant, even those who weren’t at the hospital.

Angela Mills, the Rifle Police Department Public Information Officer, was stationed at Rifle Fire Protection District Station 43 during the exercise. While the scenario played out, Mills reviewed her responsibilities during an active shooter incident. 

“It was nice to be able to sit next to Chief (Debra Funston) and talk about the messaging that we would be putting out in real time,” she said. “It’s critical for us that our messaging is translated properly into Spanish in real time, especially in an incident like this. So it was a good time to talk about who would be our go to translator.”

Needham, who spent around nine months planning the exercise, was satisfied with the results. 

“I think it went incredibly well,” Needham said after the exercise was completed. “Nothing is ever going to go perfectly smoothly and you don’t really want it to, because otherwise how do you learn? The few little glitches that we had, they worked through it.” 

“I’m very proud of the team. I’m very proud of the hospital and all the different agencies that responded. I think it was fabulous,” she added. “I know I learned a considerable amount from the exercise and I’m hoping everyone else did, too.”