Mass casualty drill planned Friday at Redmond school

Law enforcement agencies from throughout Deschutes County, in cooperation with the Redmond School District, Redmond Fire & Rescue and several other partner groups, are conducting a mass casualty drill on Friday at Obsidian Middle School, 1335 SW Obsidian Avenue in Redmond.

Roadways in the area will be closed starting at 7 a.m., with limited access granted to residents and businesses directly affected by the closure of Obsidian Avenue and 15th Street. Notifications to affected residences and businesses were made last week, and reader boards have been erected in the area advising others.

“The purpose of the training is to rehearse the unimaginable, so we and all associated stakeholders can be better prepared in the event an actual mass casualty incident occurs at a school, or another location,” Redmond police Lt. Curtis Chambers said in Wednesday’s announcement.

During the training, a large first responder presence will be visible to passersby. The Redmond School District also will be practicing “reunification,” which is a necessary part of any incident similar to this.

In March 2017, Redmond Police and Redmond School District had a successful evacuation of Obsidian Middle School and reunification at MA Lynch Elementary as part of a domestic violence incident occurring across the street from the middle school.

Students and staff from the Redmond School District will be assisting by role-playing, and Central Oregon fire agencies, with St Charles Health Systems, will be rehearsing transporting a large number of injured people. Additionally, school buses will be used to transport the non-injured to the reunification center.

“It is the vision of the Redmond Police Department to make Redmond the safest community in Oregon,” Chambers said. “By preparing for an event which we hope never happens, we can better respond if this type of incident does occur, whether it be at a school, hospital, airport, or another location.”