When Montgomery County police scheduled a free emergency preparedness training class, Capt. Elizabeth Hattenburg said she was hoping 20 to 30 people would sign up.
The department wishfully posted 150 tickets on Eventbrite, an online reservation service, and all were claimed in less than 24 hours, she said.
Police couldn’t explain or speculate why they got such a strong response.
“We will be discussing future training dates to get some people who weren’t able to sign up for this one another date and opportunity to come out,” in the spring, Hattenburg said.
Participants will learn about Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events, CPR, the use of tourniquets and family emergency planning.
The police department is teaming up with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service and the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security for the event.
The police department has been conducting active-shooter training with businesses, religious institutions and schools for the last year, and questions about other aspects of emergency preparedness would arise, Hattenburg said.
Instead of each department doing individual programs, they decided to combine into single, 3-hour class.
Hattenburg described the course as a “brief overview,” intended to educate residents while piquing their interest enough to pursue more-involved education, such as CPR certification with the American Red Cross.
