MOBILE, Ala. — Mobile County has a very active healthcare coalition. This group – also known as the Mobile County Healthcare Emergency Response Coalition (MCHERC) — is comprised of hospitals, long-term residential facilities, health care facilities, governmental agencies, and first responders across the county.

The MCHERC recently coordinated training on safety response measures for active shooter and general safety. “We have had a number of active shooter events across the United States,” said Dr. Kevin Michaels, Health Officer for Mobile County. “It is our responsibility to recognize and respond appropriately to protect our patients and clients in our facilities.”

The Codenity group, which is now Lockout USA, provided three 8-hour courses that were hosted by USA Health Providence Hospital. This was the second time this type of training was offered to the Mobile County community. The event trained 81 attendees.

The instructors for the classes were Joe Humphries, a retired police officer, and Carrie Kotecki, a registered nurse. They provided perspectives from the view of their professional experiences.

The training included a didactic portion with active discussions on different real-world scenarios. The attendees learned survival skills for work and for everyday life. Humphries showed participants how to use everyday items on as tools to secure doors keeping intruders from entering offices where people are hiding.

The final portion of the training consisted of hands-on training on an empty hospital floor. Attendees were able to put into practice techniques that were received from the first half of the course. There were four active shooter scenarios in which the class members could “run, hide, fight.” Each class was enlightened to those concepts and were able to determine how well the concepts would work during an active shooter scenario. Attendees were given instructions on what to do and how to ensure their safety.

“Our colleagues have the knowledge on what can be done to ensure their safety, as well as others in any situation where an active shooter or intruder is present,” said Matthew Bryant, USA Health Providence Hospital’s safety officer.

Codenity trained more than 100 students at an event in 2023, which was also hosted by USA Providence. Participants for that class included members of our local hospitals, public health, behavioral health, funeral homes, fire, assisted living facilities, community health centers and counseling services.

“Our goal is to bring training and exercises to our partners that will benefit them along with the whole community and give valuable education for everyday use,” said Latosia Turnbough, MCHERC’s Coordinator.