Police Will Swarm Parkland High School for Aug. 8 Drill

If you’re driving past  on Wednesday, Aug. 8, and see fire trucks, EMTs and police cars amassed, don’t panic. Parkland is taking part in an “active shooter” simulation to prepare staff and first responders for such an emergency.

Among those participating in the drill – which will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. – are several fire companies, municipal and state police, , the Lehigh County communications center, and area hospitals, according to Parkland Superintendent Richard Sniscak.

He said Lehigh Valley Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital will be sending their medical helicopters.

“They’re going to be utilizing our baseball field for a landing zone,” he said.

A few years the district did a drill simulating a hostage situation but Sniscak said this would be more comprehensive. “We’re going to talk about how we block access to the high school, so it’s going to take a coordinated effort from a lot of different jurisdictions to be able to block public access to the high school,” he said.