WELLS — In the wake of reported shootings at colleges and universities in the past few years, York County Community College wants to be more prepared in case the unthinkable happens.

On Friday, YCCC security and other college personnel learned some strategies to use in case a potential shooter or other crisis erupts on campus.

The training was important, said YCCC President Barbara Finkelstein, because, “No campus could ever be safe enough.”

Members of the Wells and Ogunquit Police Departments came up with several scenarios of possible college emergencies, which they enacted in simulations. College personnel and police officers were called on to respond in the scenarios. Afterward, they were given tips on ways to improve their actions if the situation were to happen in real life.

One scenario included a parent who was arguing with an instructor who had given his daughter a failing grade.

Another was of a student who was armed with a knife, was agitated and seemed to be suffering from a mental condition.

In a third scenario, a drunken man was at reception looking for his wife. He had a gun, and at one point he shot the receptionist.

In addition to simulating the scenarios and responding to them, the YCCC staffers learned about techniques to use to secure physical control of a situation.

There was also a medical station where YCCC personnel and others learned skills such as how to apply a tourniquet and how to position a person to keep them alive until help arrives.

The training was “amazing,” said Paula Gagnon, YCCC vice president and academic dean.

“We talk about these things,” she said, but through the training she learned that in real life an incident often “doesn’t go the way you expect it to.”

Gagnon said she had never done a training like the one in which she participated on Friday, and she found it very valuable.

YCCC Director of Security Mark Paradis said he learned some valuable tips such as “don’t go all the way into the room” if there is an agitated person there and to “give as much information as possible to police so they’re more prepared.”

The training “is something I’ve been pushing for a long time,” said YCCC Director of Facilities Dana Petersen. He said he thought it was important that college personnel learned strategies about how to handle a crisis because of violence that has been reported in other states on college campuses.

Finkelstein said there have been no crises on campus since she began her tenure at the school about two months ago. She added that the community college “is in a very safe area.”

However, she said, she thought the training was valuable because if something does happen, whether a shooter shows up on campus or there is a gas leak, “we want to make sure we’re prepared for as many scenarios as we can.”

Wells Police Chief Jo-Ann Putnam said Friday’s exercise was the first time that her department had conducted such a training with a non-police entity.

The preventive training was important for college personnel “to learn what to do” in crisis, she said.

Unlike area public schools, at the college the first responders are usually campus security, said Putnam.

Also, she said, “the college setting is different than a high school.

“We’re dealing with adults and you can’t make them stay” if a problem arises.

On Friday, Putnam said she was very pleased with how the training went. She said a more advanced training at the college may take place in the spring.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.