The University of Toledo Police Department, alongside personnel from The University of Toledo Medical Center, will conduct a training exercise on Tuesday, June 7, to test the University’s response in the event of a violent intruder.

The training exercise will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Jacobs Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center on UToledo’s Health Science Campus. It begins with a de-escalation training and will be followed by an active shooter simulation.

“As the recent horrific shootings at a supermarket in New York and an elementary school in Texas have unfortunately demonstrated, these instances continue to occur across the country,” said Jeff Newton, associate vice president of public safety. “While we hope we never need to use these skills, it’s important we continue our regular trainings and preparations to be able to respond to this type of violence. We want to ensure we’re providing the safest environment possible for our students and staff.”

UToledo and UTMC regularly perform tabletop drills and full-scale exercises to test the University’s response to a variety of emergency situations.

The June 7 exercise, planning for which began in February, will specifically test the response of police and emergency room personnel to a shooting that results in multiple casualties.

In addition to evaluating first-responders’ communication, response and scene management, campus safety officials will observe how nurses, students and other hospital personnel use their “run, hide, fight” training in a simulated active shooter event.

The run, hide, fight principles are recommended by the F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security for individuals confronted with an active shooter scenario to run to safety if they can, hide if escape isn’t possible and, as a last resort, fight back.

In-person de-escalation and run, hide, fight training can be requested through the University of Toledo Office of Public Safety. The University also offers the run, hide, fight training via the Safety and Health Training Test Bank, accessible through MyUT.

Signs will be posted that say “UToledo Police Training Event” around the Center for Creative Education. In the event of a real emergency, the public address and UT Alert systems would be activated to inform the campus community that a dangerous situation is occurring and to stay clear.

To learn what to do in the event of an emergency and for more information on the University’s emergency preparedness plans and procedures, visit emergency.utoledo.edu.