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WILKES-BARRE — Maybe it was years of teaching nursing. Maybe it was the knowledge that two others trained in emergency care were in the same room. But when the fellow came up to Susan Malkemes and said, “Let’s get you shot,” she didn’t wince.

Malkemes, undergraduate nursing program chair at Wilkes University, was to be one of the victims in a detailed “active attacker” training session Tuesday at the school’s Stark Learning Center. She not only got a faux bullet wound stuck to her upper chest — (“it missed the lung, it’s not life threatening,” she determined), she got a nasty gash wrapped around her left shin. And she got her injuries before the attack ever happened.

The University Department of Public Safety partnered with the Wyoming Police Department to host the “Active Attack Integrated Response” training for area police, fire and medical personnel. The two-day, 16-hour training came from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center.

Along with Wilkes emergency personnel, the hands-on program drew emergency service workers — including police, firefighters, ambulance crews and dispatchers — from nine area municipalities as well as from the Luzerne County District Attorney’s office and the county 911 operation.

District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said that while active shooter training has become more common, this was a rare chance for responders from different units, including dispatchers, to be included.

For Malkemes and a fellow instructor and nursing student waiting in one basement room to be “attacked,” the rules were a bit hard to stick to. Instructor John Holman told the two bystanders not to go to Malkemes’ aid unless the emergency workers who entered the room asked them to.

“That’s not how we’re trained,” Malkemes noted.

When the simulation went “hot,” voices could be heard screaming in the hallway and fake shots fired before the shooter entered the room where Malkemes waited. He fired three “shots” before a law enforcement officer appeared in the door frame and “shot” him. The bystanders started screaming (but not rushing to help) while a medical responder was summoned on the radio and an initial assessment of wounds was made.

Those being trained brought others into that room or a neighboring one, where three more victim were on the floor, one unconscious with a lung wound, one with fake eviscerated stomach, and another with a leg wound. First responders prepped the wounded but were told by Holman to wait until they were assured the corridor was safe before getting everyone out.

Malkemes was pulled against a wall and propped up where she complained about pain in her left arm, clearly in an attempt to draw attention to the bullet wound just hidden under the edge of her shirt. Ultimately, one of the bystanders had to expose it before it was noticed.

Don’t worry. When the corridor was “safe” and those in the building were being guided out — untouched and wounded alike — she was among the crowd, dutifully simulating a limp.

“I’m still alive,” she smiled.

Wilkes-Barre Police and Firemen remove the “wounded” from a basement room at Stark Learning Center during an active shooter training session at Wilkes University Tuesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL061219Shooter3.jpg.optimal.jpgWilkes-Barre Police and Firemen remove the “wounded” from a basement room at Stark Learning Center during an active shooter training session at Wilkes University Tuesday. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

“Bystanders” and a first responder assist Susan Malkemes, portraying a shooting victim, during active shooter training at Wilkes University Tuesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL061219Shooter4.jpg.optimal.jpg“Bystanders” and a first responder assist Susan Malkemes, portraying a shooting victim, during active shooter training at Wilkes University Tuesday. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

First responders treat “victims” while awaiting information regarding corridor safety during active shoooter training at Wilkes University Tuesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL061219Shooter1.jpg.optimal.jpgFirst responders treat “victims” while awaiting information regarding corridor safety during active shoooter training at Wilkes University Tuesday. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

With the “shooter” shot in the foreground, victims await evacuation during active shooter training at Wilkes University on Tuesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL061219Shooter2.jpg.optimal.jpgWith the “shooter” shot in the foreground, victims await evacuation during active shooter training at Wilkes University on Tuesday. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish