“Every call is different. Every building is different,” says Sergeant Jeremy White, member of the Dane County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) Tactical Response Team (TRT).
Because TRT forces face the unknown each time they are called out, training is critical to their safety. On Thursday, the unit gained some experience in visiting SSM Health’s now vacant Sun Prairie Emergency Center. The site is vacant while we design and build our new SSM Health Outpatient Center, which will house surgical and eye care services when it opens in 2025.
During the team’s hours-long training, officers were able to practice a variety of skills, techniques and tactics that are often used when they are called to assist other law enforcement agencies. The building’s unique set up also offered ample training time with different technologies the department uses with increasing frequency: a small camera-enabled drone and a pair of “throwbots,” or small remote-controlled robots that can navigate in and around different spaces and terrains. These devices help improve officer and citizen safety, as they provide an advanced view of what or who may be in a room where officers do not have a line of sight.
SSM Health is always honored to partner with agencies including DCSO on training opportunities. First, it directly contributes to keeping the communities we serve safe. As one of eight TRT teams across the State of Wisconsin, DCSO’s team responds to critical incidents in Dane County and ten surrounding counties as mutual aid. In a mass event that requires significant support, the team can be called and respond to incidents anywhere across Wisconsin.
Training in new and different structures, like the emergency center, helps the TRT prepare for all kinds of scenarios and helps the team improve on verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as the tactics and techniques required to resolve critical incidents safely.
This is not the first time SSM Health has provided training sites for DCSO. In the recent past, teams have used vacant homes on SSM Health owned land, empty clinic spaces and unused areas of a hospital for different training scenarios.
