05/19/2026
GSD conducts Safety Day at Runnels
By Robert Nott, Communications Director, DOH
As comfortable as you may be in your immediate workplace environment, have you figured out your possible options for evacuating if an active threat arises?
Do you know where the closest fire extinguishers to your office are, and where they are located on other floors, in case a fire breaks out? Do you know how to use an extinguisher?
And do you know how to find and safely use an evacuation chair if one of your work companions is incapable of leaving the building in the event of a fire or natural calamity that poses a threat?
New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) and New Mexico Department of Environment (NMDOE) employees housed in the Santa Fe-based Runnels building got the answers to these questions as they took part in safety-related classes as part of a two-day Safety Day in early May.
Trainers from several state agencies and organizations under the aegis of the state General Services Department (GSD) made it clear during the classes that the training isn’t just about staying safe, but staying alive, if danger pays a call.
“You think you’re ready,” said trainer Joaquin Neilson of GSD’s facility management division, of the need to think fast but stay calm as chaos envelopes the environment. “But then your lizard brain kicks in.”
He was referring to that part of the brain that is overcome with fright and flight rather than with reason and clearer thought – which may be tough attributes to come by if someone with a gun is causing mayhem in your workplace.
Neilson taught the Active Threat class, which prepped participants on what to do if a shooter is in the vicinity. None of the choices seem ideal but the main three options – run, hide, fight, also known as avoid, deny (as in entry) and defend – remain the ones many law enforcement experts recommend when it comes to surviving.
Trainers also gave courses on how to administer first aid, use an evacuation chair and properly and safely use a fire extinguisher to combat a workplace fire. There’s a lot of thought that goes into that last action as well, not just in terms of knowing how to properly unpin the extinguisher but how to aim, point and sweep the hose across the base of the fire to put it out.
The class covered the various types of fire (electric, kitchen, flammable liquid, etc.) and the various types of extinguishers best suited to tackle them. Trainers also reminded folks it’s safer to unplug your laptops and cell phones while you are sleeping – those devices can overheat and catch on fire quickly, as a training video that was part of the class made clear.
“It’s education for you guys – we want to keep you safe,” said Aaron Garcia, deputy fire marshal with the State Fire Marshal’s office, one of the trainers in the class.
Savannah Pierson, an epidemiologist with NMDOH’s Infectious Disease Epidemiology Bureau, took part in several of the classes, including the evacuation chair and fire extinguisher training. Noting she had never tried using a fire extinguisher before that class, she said, “It’s better to experience this rather than read about it.”
“Life depends on training,” she said.
