JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Jamestown Regional Medical Center takes seriously the health and safety of its patients and employees.

To maintain that, JRMC has educated its staff and organized an active shooter drill, so employees could learn how to protect themselves and others should a real event occur. This proactive approach tested the response of JRMC employees. It also allowed law enforcement and 911 to test their response capabilities.

“The drill went well,” said K.C. DeBoer, JRMC President & CEO. “We will use what we learned to prepare for future threats. It is unfortunate that we have to conduct a drill such as this, however, as we have seen with the active shooter situation at YouTube in California and the recent school shooting in Florida, this continues to happen in our society. We believe it is better to educate our staff and conduct drills to improve our preparedness than it is to ignore reality and say ‘this could never happen in Jamestown.’”

The drill itself took about 15 minutes, however, it took months of planning. As part of the planning process, JRMC worked with local law enforcement agencies and Stutsman County Emergency Management. The day of the drill, JRMC even asked a local councilor to remain on site for employees or patients who needed the services.

“We respect that people have strong emotional reactions to this drill. We want to do everything we can to ensure their physical and emotional protection,” DeBoer said.

During and after the drill, JRMC and the partnering agencies made every effort to inform patients and visitors. JRMC explained that a drill is occurring, that they are safe and what to do during the drill. To protect patients from the drill, the main patient care floor was excluded from the drill’s main activity. JRMC also chose a time of day when few outpatients would be in the building.

“For months, we have educated our staff regarding how they should respond to such an event in their work area or on our campus,” DeBoer said. “This drill helps our teams understand how to can protect themselves as well as our patients and visitors if such a situation should ever occur here.”

Following the active shooter drill, JRMC also participated in a mass casualty exercise in the Emergency Department. The goal of the drill was to prepare the medical teams should a mass casualty event occur.

“We appreciate our employees and volunteers for their participation in today’s drill. We also appreciate the strong cooperation from law enforcement and Stutsman County Emergency Management in conducting this drill,” DeBoer said.