Archbold’s Grady General Hospital Hosting Active Shooter Drill Wednesday

On Wednesday, June 29, Archbold’s Grady General Hospital will hold an “active shooter” drill, during which hospital staff will simulate a response to an overhead announcement of Code Silver.

Code Silver is the hospital’s non-clinical emergency code used to alert staff and visitors of an active shooter, anyone engaged in trying to kill others with any type of weapon, on the hospital campus.

“It’s extremely important that our staff knows how to respond in real emergency situations and during a crisis or disaster that could affect the safety and well-being of our patients, visitors and employees,” said Chuck Winchester, Archbold emergency management coordinator.

Archbold frequently holds drills to remind staff how to respond to internal emergencies or disasters such as fire, extreme weather and infant or child abduction. In addition, the hospital routinely partners with local law enforcement and first responders to simulate external events such as chemical spills and mass casualty events that, in real life, would result in enacting the activation of a county-wide emergency management plan. The hospital has been working with first responders and community partners for weeks to prepare for today’s drill.

“It’s very important that we evaluate our policies and test our procedures to ensure the safety of our staff, patients and community,” said Winchester. “Our team has met with local law enforcement and city and county officials several times in preparation for the upcoming Code Silver exercise. We’ve developed a joint plan that we’ll implement during the exercise to test the policies and procedures we’ve discussed and put in place for this type of event.”

The drill will take place inside a hospital department. The scenario will involve Archbold Emergency Management, Archbold Security and Grady County Emergency Management Agency. Law enforcement and first responders will respond to the hospital’s call to E-911, arriving on the scene to assess and control the simulated situation.

“Archbold will test their mass notification systems during the drill. Social media will also be used to test the ability to disseminate information quickly to the community during an actual event,” said Winchester. “Though Archbold employees may receive a text or phone call alerting them of the scenario, we want to stress this is only a drill, and Archbold and local law enforcement will be in full control of the simulation.”

For more information on the Code Silver drill at Archbold, please call Chuck Winchester, at 229.551.2199.