Had an interesting weekend in Waco...

[ELB]

What? Um no, not that interesting.

I was at the CTCTG 6th Annual Force-on-Force Training Meetup last Saturday.

We had four separate training events: First aid in an active shooter situation (airsoft FoF), improvised weapons, robbery where one gets asked questions by the police after the robbery (more airsoft FoF), and a room clearing exercise (yet more airsoft FoF).

It was quite interesting.

I think my favorite was the first aid under fire. We had a brief sit-down session on first aid, direct pressure, tourniquets, etc., then donned airsoft masks and pistols and entered a scenario where we are trying to make our way through the building and come upon an injured person while an active shooter is roaming the place. The first aid instruction was necessarily brief due to time constraints - most of the time was spent in the scenario.

This was good for me -- I am an EMT-B and have a handle on the first aid part, but conducting that in a hostile environment and keeping an eye out for the threat(s) was excellent practice. Lots of good questions to consider: Can I treat this person safely? Do I even want to try, or is it too dangerous to stop? How do I know the person is not one of the active shooters that has been wounded? Obvious questions, but it working them out under the threat of airsoft put some pressure on.

One person would play the "wounded person", one the "good guy" making his way through the building, and a third was the "spotter", giving the good guy an idea of what he was working with. At some point in the process the active shooter makes his entrance. In one scenario where I was the spotter, the good guy knelt to check on a victim -- but had his back to all three doors that entered the (big) room. Sure enough the active shooter was in the room and shot him before he could react.

When my turn came, the wounded person raised a pistol and pointed at me, saying not entirely rational things. I moved laterally as fast and far as I could shouting to drop the gun, but he didn't so I shot him before he shot me. Was he a wounded armed bad guy or a wounded armed good guy? Hmm. Dunno, but he kept pointing a gun at me and did not respond to my commands. For various reason I ended up in the middle of a large room with him before I realized he was there; if I had a do-over, I would spend a moment clearing the room from the doorway as much as I could before entering (unless I had a bad guy hot on my heels).

The rest of it was pretty interesting as well, well worth the time and money ($50) spent. We are always happy to have new members, if you want a chance to learn and practice defensive skills with handguns, empty hands, knives, rifles, in various scenarios, please come join us. There are at least three other members of TexasCHLforum in the group already, and a lot of other good people as well. This past Saturday we had about 16 guys and five gals, and finished off the event with some good BBQ.

[suthdj]

do you have a link for those of us who don't have facebook

[C-dub]

When my turn came, the wounded person raised a pistol and pointed at me, saying not entirely rational things. I moved laterally as fast and far as I could shouting to drop the gun, but he didn't so I shot him before he shot me.

I think I need a little clarification. EMT's are or can be armed?

[The Annoyed Man]

Was this held at Twin Peaks?

[C-dub]

Was this held at Twin Peaks?

Banditos and Cossak's with air soft guns.

[ELB]

Was this held at Twin Peaks?

Banditos and Cossak's with air soft guns.

Different day, different venue.

[ELB]

do you have a link for those of us who don't have facebook

Sorry, I thought I had put up another link as well: http://www.combativestraininggroup.com/ ... /#msg24719" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The main forum is here: http://www.combativestraininggroup.com/forum/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Please sign up and say your howdy in the Introductions forum.

[ELB]

When my turn came, the wounded person raised a pistol and pointed at me, saying not entirely rational things. I moved laterally as fast and far as I could shouting to drop the gun, but he didn't so I shot him before he shot me.

I think I need a little clarification. EMT's are or can be armed?

I'm and EMT and I'm armed.

Note that this was a private event, this was not part of a EMS organization. As a volunteer firefighter/first responder I have EMT-B training and license to go with it, but this training event had nothing to do with my VFD.

[C-dub]

When my turn came, the wounded person raised a pistol and pointed at me, saying not entirely rational things. I moved laterally as fast and far as I could shouting to drop the gun, but he didn't so I shot him before he shot me.

I think I need a little clarification. EMT's are or can be armed?

I'm and EMT and I'm armed.

Note that this was a private event, this was not part of a EMS organization. As a volunteer firefighter/first responder I have EMT-B training and license to go with it, but this training event had nothing to do with my VFD.

I wondered if it was sponsored training by the department or not. No problem with any first responder being armed. I am a little surprised is all.

[ELB]

I wondered if it was sponsored training by the department or not. No problem with any first responder being armed. I am a little surprised is all.

Oh, and by "license" I meant EMT license, but of course I also have the CHL as well. My main purpose (above) in mentioning it at all was simply to point out I had already had first aid/basic life support training, so the important part of our event last weekend was adding in the variables of doing it in an active-shooter type situation.

But that reminds me to go check on that one bill that would cover EMS/FFs with CHLs when responding to chl-prohibited areas...

[SkipB]

Glad you enjoyed ELB. When it comes to saving lives you can't get enough training.

[Oldgringo]

I participated in the Texas State Skeet Shooting Championship in Waco in 1995. There were a whole lot of guns there back then and I don't recall hearing of anyone getting shot or stabbed. What has changed?

[ELB]

Not sure what that has to do with my training event, but biker gangs have been fighting and stabbing and killing each other for decades, and I'm sure there was a killing and a stabbing or two in Waco long before the Twin Peaks event.

[ELB]

I was at the CTCTG 6th Annual Force-on-Force Training Meetup last Saturday.

We had four separate training events: First aid in an active shooter situation (airsoft FoF), improvised weapons, robbery where one gets asked questions by the police after the robbery (more airsoft FoF), and a room clearing exercise (yet more airsoft FoF).

It was quite interesting.

I imagine this would be a lot of fun and very valuable - thanks for the report

It was and you're welcome. The room clearing exercises can be very nerve-wracking if you take them seriously, especially if you are alone. Not something I would do unless there's no other way. But the event was very enjoyable with a good group of guys and gals.