Explosions sounding, rounds firing and victims crying for help is not a typical scene at CSU East Bay. For 48 hours straight last weekend, however, the west side of campus was utilized as a training site for Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams.
CSUEB was just one of around 30 different training sites, each running a different simulation to test the teams that went through the Urban Shield Program, a nationally and internationally recognized Homeland Security training program.
These simulations varied from an active shooter situation to bomb disasters to terrorist attacks, basing each on real-life situations.
In addition to giving special training and serving as a valuable resource for evaluating performances and safety protocols, the program was a competition between the teams for best times and performances, encouraging them to achieve the top score and new skills.
The teams were judged by their leadership, intelligence gathering, planning, deployment, team movement and teamwork, according to the program’s website.
The fact that each team had different previous training led each round to end differently each time.
“Each of the three scenarios so far have been completely different from each other,” said Priscilla Anselmo, one of the victims in the CSUEB scenario. “I got walked out the first time, carried out the second time on a nice litter and the third time I got carried out by two people and literally had to scream the whole way because it was so painful.”
Officers from several different levels ranging from the University Police Department to those at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office made such an event possible, with the help of the Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and many private vendors.
This level of collaboration signifies the magnitude of the program and the amount of time and effort that it took to plan this annual event.
Built for training national teams, Urban Shield has expanded its audience internationally.
National teams who participated in the competition training were accompanied by international teams, including an all-women team from Jordan, a men’s team nicknamed the Knights of Jordan and teams from Bahrain and the State of Israel.
The simulations are designed to assess and validate the speed, effectiveness and efficiency of capabilities, as well as test the adequacy of regional policies, plans, procedures and protocols.
According to its website, the objective of Urban Shield 2011 was to test communication and management capabilities; assess public and private sector emergency plans and unified response; and evaluate regional fire, search and rescue, response, regional tactical capabilities and regional explosive ordinance disposal capabilities.
This year was the first time that CSUEB was used as a simulation site, due to the recent evacuation of Warren Hall on the west side of campus.
The scenario hosted by CSUEB was designed to assist each team in transitioning from a hostile terrorist attack to rescuing hostages, the first of its kind for the EMS teams that participated.
“One of the things I’m pushing for is that SWAT and EMS can possibly get in there quicker,” explained Jim Morrissey, Tactical Paramedic and Medical Program Director for the San Francisco FBI SWAT team as well as producer of the CSUEB simulation site. “EMS is sometimes staged blocks away, not brought in until every closet is checked while these people are bleeding to death. So it’s a way to get them in there safer.”
Several volunteers participated at each simulation site, acting either as victims or attackers in the scenario, excitedly awaiting the next round.