First responders train for active shooter situations

On the heels of the deadly Dallas ambush, police are going through active shooter training that they hope prepares them for any situation.

The drills have been seen before. But what was unusual in Tuesday’s drill was who was receiving the training.

The drill was called Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response training. The officers participating were not SWAT members. They were Dallas patrol officers.

In an active shooter emergency, patrol officers would likely be the first on scene.

The most recent example was last week in Lancaster when three men wearing all black robbed a movie theater. There was concern they were inside with some 200 movie goers.

DeSoto police were among the first to move in and swept the theater. They later determined the gunmen were gone.   

And it's not just police who will receive this training. For the first time ever, first responders like paramedics and firefighters can be trained much like combat medics to immediately go into an active shooting scene. 

"We go in under force protection, so we're not going in armed or anything like that,” said Chief David Coatney with Dallas Fire Rescue. “We're going in under the cover and safety of police officers. And we go in and recover the wounded and take them out to a triage site which is set up outside."

"The whole goal here is to, as quickly as possible, get law enforcement in there to stop killing and then to quickly as possible stop people from dying as a result of the injuries that have been inflicted on them,” said Jeff Curnutt.

The man in the forefront is U.S. Senator John Cornyn who co-sponsored the "Police Act,” which offers nearly $200 million in training for North Texas first responders.

"What we have seen is not only is it important to take out the shooter, it's important to save lives,” Cornyn said. “And if people are dying and bleeding out in the ground because they don't have the medical services on an emergency basis, then that is a serious, serious problem."