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Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Shooter Drill

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Holds Shooter Response Drill (GALLERY)

Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital held a prearranged disaster response drill Thursday morning to test the hospital’s emergency readiness in the face of a disaster, natural or otherwise.


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Hospitals throughout California participate in the annual disaster drill, designed to prepare medical staff for the worst circumstances.

“The exercise that we’re doing today is actually a statewide exercise, so the majority of hospitals in Los Angeles and in California are participating,” said Terry Stone, safety officer and emergency manager at Henry Mayo. “It is helping to prepare us for a potential terrorist active shooter event.”

The drill gives the staff an idea of how to operate under extreme conditions such as a natural disaster or large-scale assault on civilians.

“Exactly what we’re doing today, is to exercise it,” Stone said, “so that everybody knows their role before something happens.”

The disaster exercise depicted “victims” involved in a complex, coordinated terrorist attack along four different locations throughout Los Angeles, officials said.

“We’re now in the age of terrorism so we need to learn to be prepared and respond to that,” Stone said. “Knowledge is the greatest asset to have in order to quell people’s anxieties and fears.”

For the first time, law enforcement officials also participated, working alongside medical personnel. 

“This is a scenario that (we) have to prepare for,” said Deputy Mike Sellers from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “And (one) that unfortunately in today’s world, we in law enforcement and the public have to face.”

Sellers described the role of deputies in the training as that of a security detail, protecting patients and their doctors during a situation with a continuous threat.

“Tabletop exercises have their value, and we can sit around a table and talk about it,” he said. “But you really get the hands-on experience and real world (training) from doing the actual events. We do these in a stressful environment to try to replicate a real world event as much as we can.”

Aaron Lanuza contributed to this article. 

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Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Holds Shooter Response Drill (GALLERY)

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About Chris McCrory

Chris McCrory is the acting News Director for KHTS Radio. He set up a profile picture in his first week as an intern in 2015, and still isn't sure how to change it. He will graduate from Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism in December 2018.