Chamber Leadership – Public Safety Day

It was Public Safety Day for the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Leadership class Wednesday. The group of about 30 Hillsboro business men and women spend one day per month learning about the governance and operation of their city. Following classroom presentations by Hillsboro Fire & Police Departments, the class divided into groups and experienced the following activities:

With Hillsboro Firefighters they:
• Donned firefighter protective clothing, called turnouts or bunker gear, added the air tank and mask, and entered a room filled with theatrical smoke to search on their hands and knees for a rescue dummy lost in the clouded room. This simulated the zero visibility that firefighters experience in performing the search of a structure on fire.
• Donned firefighter protective clothing and used the rescue tools often called the “jaws of life” to cut apart a car. That demonstrated how long it takes to rescue people from a motor vehicle accident.

With Hillsboro Police Officers they:
• Used special training handguns with non-lethal ammunition and practiced shooting at an indoor range.
• Observed a taser being deployed into the body of a volunteer.
• Observed and accompanied a group of police officers in responding to a simulation of an active shooter scenario complete with guns firing blanks and explosions.
• Observed police dog demonstrations finding hidden narcotics and tracking a simulated fleeing suspect.


The entire day was held at the former Master Brand Cabinet building on Walnut Street. Our thanks to the owners of the building for allowing us to use it.