Sul Ross State University is hosting 26 First Responders on the Alpine campus for a “Train-the-Trainer” course this week, Jan. 23-27.

The course is provided by the Texas State University Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center.

According to the ALERRT website, the Train-the-Trainer model is used by several agencies across the nation as their standard active shooter response. Participants must be state-certified law enforcement, fire, telecommunicator or EMS providers.

The course is “designed to improve integration” between responding agencies and provides law enforcement officers with “key medical skills based on tactical emergency casualty care guidelines, which can be used at the point of injury to increase survivability of victims.”

Four instructors from the TSU campus in San Marcos are providing the course to area agencies, including the Sul Ross University Police Department, Alpine Police Department, Marfa Police Department, Brewster County Sheriff’s Office, Pecos County Sheriff’s Office, Reeves County Sheriff’s Office, Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office, Alpine Volunteer Fire Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The Sul Ross UPD and the Department of Homeland Security and Criminal Justice sponsored the event. According to Dr. Oguzhan Basibuyuk, the chair of the department, participants will be able to serve as trainers in their own agencies upon course completion.

For more information, email oguzhan.basibuyuk@sulross.edu.