Emergency Responders in Columbus and Lowndes Co. put their skills to the test to help MUW prepare for the worst

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Emergency Responders in Columbus and Lowndes County put their skills to the test to help Mississippi University for Women prepare for the worst.

An active shooter on a busy campus is a nightmare scenario for any school.

Having all the departments responding to the scene on the same page can be a matter of life and death.

That was the objective of a full-scale emergency drill at Vibrant Church in Columbus this morning.

Law enforcement from the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Police Department, and the Air Force Base, EMTs from Baptist Golden Triangle, and Columbus Firefighters responded in real-time as if it were an actual emergency to test action plans, response times, and agency coordination.

“We will sit and talk about some of the things that happened today, good or bad, and we’ll go back, and if there are any gaps we have in our plans, we’ll go back and change our plans and tweak anything we need to do to make sure that if an event like this happens in Lowndes County, we are prepared for it,” said Cindy Lawrence, Lowndes County EMA Director.

“One Team, One Fight. We are willing to cooperate with the other agencies within the area and be able to learn how we can respond to situations like this if we ever have a situation we need to respond to. Coming together and practicing, and learning our mistakes is better to do it here than in real life,” said Sheriff Eddie Hawkins.

The W normally conducts this drill on campus but changed locations to Vibrant Church due to COVID precautions.