ORLANDO, Fla. – Two former Orange County first responders are leading a national training program to prepare law enforcement and emergency agencies across the country for an active shooter assault.
Bill Godfrey, a former deputy fire chief with Orange County, and Ron Otterbach, a former member of leader of Orange County SWAT, have more than 50 years of experience between them.
“It’s a way, not the way," Otterbach said. “It’s over and over and over again, working next to fire service, and EMS where they’re not isolated.”
The three-day sessions use virtual simulated scenarios designed and developed through trial and error.
“On day one it’s very simple scenarios with low numbers," Godfrey said. “By the time we end on day three, we work them up to multiple attackers, attacking an airport at the same time.”
Their company, C3Pathways, is limited to 12 sessions a year, funded by Homeland Security.
“I think this works because of the practice," Godfrey said. “What we found using the simulation was a way to drive those exercises in a controlled environment with 50 or 60 people over and over and over again, until the light comes on.”
The light, according to Otterbach, creates a “eureka moment” for the men and women in the training sessions.
The class provides an incident management checklist that presents a response line-up from incident command to the designated rescue task force.
While the training sessions have been successful, both men admit the biggest challenge they face is meeting the demand for the training.
“The need far outstrips the available funding both from Homeland Security to deliver the classes,” Godfrey said. “It’s a huge commitment and it’s expensive and the need is significant.”
The agencies need to make the first responders available for the classes and, Godfrey said, for smaller agencies it is a difficult juggling act.
There are already agencies in Jacksonville on the new waiting list for class time in 2019.
Otterbach said the other challenge they face is convincing the various agencies that “there may be a better way to do it.”
The C3Pathways training teams have already completed sessions with law enforcement and emergency agencies in the northeast and west coast.
“We’re finding that a lot of agencies want the training but they really don’t know what they need. They go back, rewrite their policies, and hopefully we made a difference,” Otterbach said.
For more information on the training program go to C3Pathways.com.