HARLINGEN — Members of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center of Texas State University recently conducted a weeklong active assailant incident level-one train-the-trainer course at the Texas State Technical College Harlingen campus.
The multi-agency training collaboration included the TSTC Police Department, the Department of Public Safety, and several police departments from area municipalities and independent school districts.
The training included safety protocols and procedures and was designed to educate law enforcement officers about how to isolate, distract and neutralize an active assailant.
Other topics included room-entry techniques, approaching and breaching a crisis site, and secondary-responder tactics. The course concluded with mock drills of real-life scenarios.
Course instructor Myra Draaven reviewed lifesaving techniques to be utilized once an incident is stopped. She mentioned how crucial it is to have various tools and equipment available.
“A tourniquet is a great resource to use on a victim,” she said. “If you have one, you have none. But if you have two, then you have one.”
Michael Salinas, a TSTC patrol officer, said the information was very beneficial.
“I believe this highlights the need to be extra prepared — it pays dividends to come into a situation with additional lifesaving tools,” he said. “For example, while our officers do carry a tourniquet on their duty-belt at all times, it could become overly relied upon that it will work. Having a backup to the backup would be an invaluable benefit to saving lives.”
The training benefits the TSTC community because it prepares the TSTC officers to collaborate with other agencies if an active assailant event were to take place. The training shortens response time by allowing the responding officers to seamlessly work together and save lives.
For more information about the ALERRT program, visit https://alerrt.org/.
For more information about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
