Clayton, OH – In a scene that has become all too familiar, hundreds of students rushed out of Northmont Middle School in Clayton, OH as law enforcement and medical personnel rushed in. Fortunately, the events that played out in the Dayton suburb on a cold October morning were part of a training exercise developed for both students and public safety personnel. At the center of the exercise was the Rhodium Incident Management Suite, a public safety software platform designed to help cities prepare for and respond to incidents of active violence.
Responders from the Ohio State Highway Patrol and cities of Clayton, Englewood, and Union were able to quickly reference their pre-plan for the school through Rhodium. This included instantly accessing facility blueprints, door locations, and evacuation and traffic plans. As responders entered the building, their actions were tracked and shared between law enforcement, fire, and medical responders. In a real active shooter situation, this level of tracking is hugely important in reducing the chance of “friendly fire.”
“The Rhodium Incident Command software is an invaluable tool to pre-plan and manage routine and complex incidents while providing situational awareness to all entities involved,” said Clayton Fire Chief Brian Garver. “The incident checklists and attachments help to ensure key tactical and procedural elements are completed and time-stamped for documentation purposes. This incident management tool was a key component for our success during this large-scale active shooter training incident involving eight different agencies.”
In addition to allowing responders to train with the Rhodium software, the exercise provided a valuable opportunity for responders to work with students. An estimated 800 students from the middle school had the opportunity to learn how to work with law enforcement to evacuate the building and how to barricade in place. The exercise also involved busing students away from the school to a safe location where they received training from Premier Health on basic lifesaving procedures including how to apply a tourniquet.
“Rhodium is used by organizations all around the country to plan for and manage responses to incidents of active violence,” said Jarret Winkelman, President & CEO of Incident Response Technologies (IRT), the maker of Rhodium. “This exercise stands out to us due to the way the responders involved the students at the school. What a great opportunity to build a relationship between students and local law enforcement, fire, and medical personnel. While it’s always the hope that students never have to endure a real-life tragedy, this exercise provided them with skills that could save their lives.”
About Incident Response Technologies
Incident Response Technologies, Inc., has been providing cloud-based solutions for public safety organizations since 2005. IRT’s flagship product, the Rhodium Incident Management Suite, is currently in use throughout the United States and Canada by Police, Fire, EMS, Emergency Management, Campus Security, and other organizations. For more information on the Rhodium Incident Management Suite, call (866) 260-7333 or visit IRT’s website at www.irtsoftware.com.
Incident Response Technologies Inc.
Management, R. I., & IRT Software. (n.d.). RHODIUM A KEY TOOL IN LARGE-SCALE SCHOOL VIOLENCE TRAINING.