ALERRT receives $1 million DHS award for first responder training

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
December 11, 2013

The Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University has received a $1 million award from the Department of Homeland Security for critical medical training for first responding law enforcement officers, fire and EMS personnel.

ALERRT Director Don Montague explained that the current standard protocol is for the law enforcement officers to enter an active shooter event and stop the shooting. Then the building is cleared and deemed safe for medical responders to enter. This new training will provide life-saving emergency medical training for law enforcement officers to provide point-of-wounding care before medical responders arrive, and to integrate police, fire and EMS personnel to increase the response to victims from “warm zones,” after a shooting.

“The Level I classes train first responding officers to stop the killing in an active shooter event. This Level II medical training will train the law enforcement, fire, and EMS personnel to the next step in the response, which is to stop the dying,” explained Montague.

This four part national project will focus on providing immediate emergency care to victims of mass casualty events, including mass shootings, by 1) raising awareness of the need for law enforcement officers to have medical training including hemorrhage control and triaging, 2) raising awareness of law enforcement, fire, EMS, emergency management personnel and community leaders for the need to plan, train and exercise together to prepare for a mass casualty event, 3) providing key medical training to law enforcement, fire and EMS providers, and 4) providing performance-based, hands-on, scenario training designed to enhance coordination between law enforcement, fire, EMS and other first responder agencies to mass casualty events for pre-hospital care and proper patient distribution for definitive emergency care.

Texas State’s ALERRT active shooter response protocol has been named the FBI’s national standard in active shooter response and has been adopted by major metro police departments including Atlanta, San Antonio, Houston and New York, as well as many state standards. Since 2001, more than 55,000 law enforcement officers have been certified in ALERRT, at no cost to the individual officers.

Since 2001, the ALERRT program has been awarded more than $32 million in funding to deliver active shooter response training across Texas and the nation. In addition to this new award from the Department of Homeland Security, major funders for ALERRT at Texas State include the Texas Governor’s Office for Criminal Justice, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, FBI and multiple states across the nation.

For more information, contact Diana Hendricks, ALERRT Director of Communications at Hendricks@alerrt.com or (512) 245-1744 or (512) 618-3373.