MOSES LAKE — Walking through the doors of the cafeteria on the Columbia Basin Job Corps (CBJC) campus Wednesday morning it appeared as if something tragic had occurred. People were on the floor crying out in agony and soaked in, what appeared to be, real blood. Lunches were scattered across tables and the collective silence in the room was a stark contrast to a cafeteria on a typical day.

The situation was a simulated training exercise and was not as it appeared. Despite the bleakness inside the cafeteria, the real world takeaways are invaluable.

“Today is all about training exercises to test emergency plans to allow law enforcement and emergency responders to get familiar with the campus and buildings,” Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kyle Foreman explained. “It’s situational awareness and builds partnerships as well.”

That relationship-building aspect of Wednesday’s training exercises at the CBJC campus was perhaps the most visible, immediate takeaway from the day. Local cops and emergency personnel were on hand to analyze how they would respond in the event of an emergency.

“Our safety officer was reaching out for procedures that happen and what is already established. And it kind of came out that local agencies were looking for the opportunity to get some actual training,” Susan Mann, CBJC public affairs specialist, said.

No stone was left unturned. Law enforcement had their specific job tasks, emergency personnel had theirs, MACC Dispatch sent out the emergency calls, observers jotted down notes and the actors in the exercises played their parts with unmatched energy and passion. The cafeteria situation was designed to simulate a person with a gun firing in the building and shooting many people. Several actors played victims, complete with fake blood and other injuries, and officers responded to the building just as how they would if there was an actual shooter and injuries or deaths. Emergency personnel followed suit and arrived to help the victims.

The outcomes from the training exercises were two-fold. In law enforcement and emergency personnel circles there is no such thing as too much training. The exercises produced strategies that could prove to be of utmost importance in the event of a real emergency. The exercises, like the cafeteria one, also gave CBJC students, administrators and staff real world experience in what to do in the event of an emergency at the campus and what steps they can take in the event of a real one.

“They are being told how and learning about when to call law enforcement, how quickly law enforcement would respond, when to stay in place and hide and several other important things,” Mann remarked.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.