Mass shootings haven’t occurred locally — and hopefully they never will.

Just in case, though, first responders took a giant step to being prepared. Last week many participated in a 40-hour course on handling not only a shooting situation, but virtually any type of multiple casualty event.

Police, firefighters and ambulance personnel attended an ALERRT class (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training) arranged through the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office and the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency.

The training, held at the former Summit, a vacated nursing home in Lehighton, included classroom instruction, simulated shooting situations, the importance of interagency coordination and safety for both responders and the public.

Carbon County Sheriff Daniel G. Zeigler said the training session was arranged through Texas State University, which sent three instructors to Carbon County for the session.

The website for ALERRT states that this is a nationally recognized program during which 146,000 first responders across the nation have already been trained.

Zeigler said those who attended will be charged with taking their acquired expertise back to their respective police, fire and ambulance units and disseminating the information.

The primary component of ALERRT is that when police are dispatched to a situation such as a shooting, police find the subject and eliminate the threat. The rescue task force would escort fire and the emergency medical service to the sites, with the escorts providing for their safety.

“Then they could apply tourniquets, treat the wounded, and get them the help they need including transport,” Zeigler said. “The goal is to get to the patient as quickly as possible, treat them and get to them a higher level of care.”

“Right now,” the sheriff said, “If a large-scale event happens, we don’t have a model where police, fire and EMS train together. This provides the ability for police, fire and EMS to train together. If, God forbid, something like this happens, we want to say at the end of the day we’re saving some lives.”

Zack Gilbert, Carbon County Emergency Management director, said, “We’re bringing all the forces together to reach that end care and patient safety.”

Zeigler said presently ambulance personnel wouldn’t go “into a hot zone or a warm zone,” referring to an active danger situation. “The task force allows us to get them together into a warm zone that they wouldn’t have entered before, allowing to reach any patient faster.”

The sheriff said that during any emergency, “You don’t know who’s going to show up or who’s on duty.”

“We’re using county resources and county assets to provide this training so we’re working smarter, not harder,” he said.

He added, “We have a lot of very talented police, fire and EMS personnel so we’re providing the training for them.”

The trainers conducting the class are from throughout the country, specifically from Virginia, Texas and Ohio.

“They’re versed in the curriculum,” Zeigler said.

Besides Zeigler and Gilbert, attending the training were:

• Sheriff’s office — Brian Mittura and Mitchell Kramer.

• Police — Samantha Janner, Nesquehoning; Koy Wentz, Lehighton; Trevin Green, Palmerton; Chief Tim Kromer, Palmerton; and David Roberts, Franklin Township.

• Firefighters — Patrick Mriss, Lehighton fire chief.

• EMS — Dawn Benner, William Boland and Matt Ruch.