COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA - After nearly two years of extensive conversation and planning, numerous Columbus area agencies are coming together for an Emergency Response Training Exercise in order to be better prepared in the event of an emergency.
Platte County Emergency Management is spearheading the exercise in collaboration with the Columbus Police Department, Platte County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Fire Department, Columbus Public Schools, Columbus Community Hospital, East Central District Health Department and Columbus City Hall. The exercise will take place beginning at noon on Friday, April 19, 2024, at Columbus High School, 3434 Discoverer Drive – a day in which CPS students are not in school. The exercise itself will take place from
approximately 33rd Avenue to 41st Avenue.
“I’m excited to see everyone working together toward a common training goal,” Platte County
Emergency Manager Tim Hofbauer said. “All those involved in the planning and participating in these exercises have invested a lot of time and are truly invested in the safety of the community.”
Columbus Police Chief Charles Sherer emphasized the importance of the training exercise.
“No one wants to think a situation like this could happen in our community; however, as situations across the country have shown us, no one is exempt. These situations can occur anywhere, in any size community,” Sherer said. “In order for local law enforcement to prepare for events such as this, it is necessary to undergo this type of training to show our preparedness; both our strengths and our weaknesses.”
The Local Emergency Planning Committee made of representatives from the aforementioned agencies began this process in Summer 2022 with monthly meetings that also saw tabletop exercises completed in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.
During the April 19th training exercise, volunteer actors will be role players. Emergency Management is coordinating the exercise, while local law enforcement agencies will work to contain the threat. The Columbus Fire Department will handle treating and transporting victims, while Columbus Public Schools will focus on its emergency response and reunification. Columbus Community Hospital will treat victims who are brought in for emergency care.
Columbus/Platte County Local Emergency Planning Committee
“We don’t want to be inventing a process in real time,” said Dr. Mark Howerter, the hospital’s chief medical officer. “Our goal is to practice, troubleshoot and perfect so if this ever does occur, we have processes in place and know we can be as efficient as possible. We want to test our ability to respond to a mass casualty incident and be prepared for an event like this.”
Those involved praised the collaboration among the agencies.
“This is an amazing group. We all have a part to play and the collaboration has been outstanding,” Columbus Police Capt. Doug Molczyk said. “All of the agencies involved with this exercise practice and train for worst-case scenarios. It is exercises like this one where we combine all our independent training into one. We need to know how to work together as a team and that is one of the goals of this exercise.”
Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Troy Loeffelholz echoed that sentiment.
“It is very clear that members of all groups have and want to create safe learning environments for all schools within our community. This drill is an opportunity to train schools, fire and rescue and law enforcement to appropriately respond to a crisis we all hope and pray does not happen in our community,” Loeffelholz said. “If it does, the data and what we learn will help us respond to serve the people we are responsible for.”
Platte County Sheriff Ed Wemhoff said having all of the area agencies involved collaborate and prepare for a “what if” situation is paramount to serving its citizens properly.
“I believe that if you are not learning you are failing, and although this event has already taught us a few things, we still have more to learn. As Platte County sheriff, I believe it is imperative to plan for events that I pray to God never happen,” Wemhoff said. “History and data will show that people fall back on training during highly stressful situations, which is why we need to train for incidents such as this. We need to train in these types of situations to better prepare ourselves to be effective in protecting the citizens we have sworn to protect.”
The April training exercise comes after a similar drill was conducted involving area agencies back in September 2019 on the Central Community College-Columbus campus.
Sue Deyke, the hospital’s emergency room director, called the process of planning this drill “amazing,” noting Columbus Mayor Jim Bulkley has also attended the meetings.
“We’re invested in this,” Deyke said. “Heaven forbid this ever happens, but we would know what (other agencies) are doing. And it is tremendous to have that kind of support.”