More than 100 representatives from local law enforcement, fire and emergency management agencies are participating in an exercise Thursday at the Washington State Fair Events Center in an effort to develop skills and improve communication during the response to an active-shooter or other violent incident. Exercise participants will focus on five areas of training, including protocols for responding to violence, wound management, basic patrol breaching, explosive ordinance disposal identification and recognition, and school response guidelines.

Participating law enforcement agencies include representatives from Auburn, Bonney Lake, Fife, Fircrest, Lakewood, Milton, Puyallup, Puyallup Tribe, Sumner and Steilacoom, as well as the Puyallup Tribe, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, the Washington State Patrol and the FBI. Dispatch, fire and emergency management participants will come from Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, DuPont Fire Department, East Pierce Fire and Rescue, Graham Fire and Rescue, Orting Valley Fire and Rescue, Pierce County Department of Emergency Management, South Sound 911, Tacoma Fire Dispatch, and West Pierce Fire and Rescue.

The exercise is co-sponsored by Pierce County Department of Emergency Management and the Pierce County Fire and Law Cooperative Training Committee. The Department of Homeland Security is funding the exercise.