PBS Documentary Inside the Uvalde Response
I just watched the PBS documentary on the Uvalde response, and it's a must-watch for all first responders. Here are some key takeaways:
· Officers thought they were responding to a car accident
· Teachers and students were taught to be silent so law enforcement didn’t know they were there. It took 20 minutes to realize
· Radios could not communicate outside of the building
· Initially thought they had a barricaded subject then heard shooting and moved to an active shooter response
· An Officer got a call from his wife who was a teacher inside the school
· Lack of ballistic protection
· No command post or IC
· Agencies don’t work together
· A student from school called 911 gave her location and reported injured students
· Couldn’t find the keys to the building. No master key.
· Split incident Tactical teams did not know how to communicate with each other
· Police blocked traffic corridors.
· Parents started arriving and wanted answers
· The door was likely unlocked
· Most students were killed in the first two minutes.
We at ISG invite you to learn from these challenges and to improve our emergency response systems. Our compassion goes out to all those who responded and faced such a difficult situation.