ST. LOUIS — "This is a mass-scale drill," said Candace Ifabiyi, CEO and medical center director for the VA St. Louis Healthcare System. "It took a lot of work, a lot of coordination, but it's the right thing to do."
Wednesday's active shooter drill was practice between two police departments: St. Louis City and Veterans Affairs.
"We just try to make it as much of a scenario as what is going on in today's world," Veterans Affairs Police Major Jeff Munzlinger explained.
5 On Your Side only witnessed a small portion of the drill. To keep police response tactics confidential, the crew was stationed on a side hallway. Most activities took place in the main lobby.
Munzlinger went over the drill's scenario: "A disgruntled veteran, for whatever reason, came to the VA with an argument and then pulled a gun and started shooting."
During the drill, volunteers wearing bloody injury makeup were wheeled to the Emergency Department on gurneys and office chairs. In the optical department, a mock crime scene was complete with bullet casings and evidence markers.
"You want to make the training as real as possible," Munzlinger said. "That way when everyone is participating in it the realism makes it more accurate for everyone to respond the way they are supposed to."
Another very real component in Wednesday's drill was actual hospital goers. Munzlinger said the regular visitors were the biggest challenge.
"I have done these drills before in training with police officers and role players, but it's a different challenge when you are including the whole facility. You have patients and staff involved, so you have a lot of unknowns that come with that."
Wednesday's drill was a first for the St. Louis VA Hospital.
"This has been months in the works," Ifabiyi said. "It took us six months at least to get everything logistically planned. We are working with our community partners, police officers and local hospitals just to be prepared for this exercise."
The drill was scheduled to take two hours but only took around 40 minutes.