Firefighters host active shooter program
DEFREESTVILLE, N.Y. >> More than 150 students from across the Capital Region participated Tuesday night in a New York State Association of Fire Chiefs seminar, The Active Shooter and the Fire/Rescue Service, led by Lt. Gary Benedict of the Fire Department of New York’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Detective David Norman of the New York Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit, at the Defreestville Fire Department.
The association is hosting the three-hour seminar at 10 sites throughout the state to bring together law enforcement and fire and rescue agencies in a coordinated effort to reach safe conclusions in what can often be extremely violent and dangerous situation.
The program covers the mindset of the firefighter, the police officer and the shooter, with the importance of communication and the problems associated with communication addressed. Benedict and Norman also reviewed cover and concealment, staging, triage and operating in a dynamic environment.
Benedict is a 29-year veteran of the FDNY and is currently assigned to the Bureau of Training after previously being posted at Station 57 in Brooklyn. He is also a certified lab instructor at the Nassau County Fire-PoliceEMS Academy and a terrorism response instructor for the federal Department of Homeland Security and has provided training for the U. S. Coast Guard.
Norman is a second-grade detective and 31-year veteran of the NYPD and has been a lead instructor at the Emergency Service Unit’s Specialized Training School for the past 10 years.
He has instructed various NYPD units, civilian contractors, fire departments, and international police departments and rescue units in all aspects of response, especially waterborne operations and civil disobedience.
For more information on the program, visit www. nysfirechiefs.com.