As A Parent and As a WORKER you have the right to ask do your schools and work places have an active shooter ERP in place

Does your school have a ALICE  it stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate.

As another Canadian School mourns the deaths of its kids and staff in a active shooter event the federal definition of an active shooter event — “an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area.”  You as a parent need to ask some really critical questions and you will be shocked when you find out the answer, does your kids school ( a work place) have a active shooter plan in place, what is covered for safety, and how many times is it reviewed with students and WORKERS? The number of incidents in which a shooter opens fire on a crowd of people more than doubled over the past seven years compared with the previous seven.  We do know that schools and businesses can no longer play the odds that “it won’t happen here” and not take the necessary steps to prepare for an active shooting. Preparedness begins well in advance of any emergency. A company plans for a fire by purchasing the necessary technology, following sound policies and procedures, and training all staff members about their roles, duties and responsibilities. Why isn’t the same approach being taken for an active shooting?

The analysis revealed several trends and informative data points.

1. Active shooter events appear to be increasing in frequency. An average of 6.4 events occurred during the first seven years studied, while an average of 16.4 events occurred during the last seven years. There was a single event in 2001; however, 2010 had the highest total with 26 events.
2. No geographic trends were found. The events occurred throughout the nation.
3. The events ended quickly. Of the events where duration could be calculated, 69 per cent were over within five minutes.
4. As a testament to the speed of events, 60 per cent of the events ended before police arrived on scene.
5. The study found 1,043 victims. Of these, 486 died and 557 were wounded.
6. There is no true “profile” of an active shooter. Only six shooters were female. However, shooters ranged from age 13 to 88. Additionally, all major races were represented at approximately the same ratio found in the population.
7. Businesses were the most prevalent attack location with a little over 45 per cent of events occurring at a retail store, office or warehouse. Approximately 24 per cent of events occurred at schools.
8. The most interesting and useful outcomes from the data are seen when analyzing the event resolutions. The report found the majority of events (55 per cent) ended before law enforcement officers arrive on scene.
9. The 55 per cent can be broken down further: 37 per cent ended with the shooter committing suicide, fleeing or moving to another location to commit suicide. Civilians stopped the shooter the remaining 18 per cent of the time. The 45 per cent of events ending after police officers arrive on scene can be broken down to shooter- or police-initiated outcomes.
10. Sixteen percent of the time, the shooter commits suicide or surrenders to law enforcement. The remaining 29 per cent of events end due to law enforcement intervention, with the majority of these resulting in the officers shooting the shooter (22 per cent).

In dealing with a potential shooter, three crucial messages are highlighted: get out, hide, and fight for your life.

 “If they can’t get out safely, if they can’t find a place to be barricaded and they’re confronted with that immediate threat right in front of them that’s willing to kill them at that moment, the most logical, prudent course of action is to try and fight for your life,”.

Avoid. The first response is to get away from the threat. If it’s possible, civilians should leave the area in which the shooting is occurring to avoid the shooter. It’s important they move far enough away from the location of the event to be safe. In the case of a fire, this is often across the street. In an active shooter event, more distance (often a few blocks) is usually required to ensure both that the shooter can’t shoot at civilians from inside the building, and to ensure that if the shooter moves from his current location, civilians don’t end up in the line of fire again.

Deny. If it’s unsafe to leave the current location to avoid the shooter, the next step is to take actions that will deny him access to the location. This is not hiding. It’s doing whatever it takes to prevent the shooter from getting into the location. The simplest action, and one that has been extremely effective in the active shooter events studied, is to lock the door to the room. In the attacks that have occurred in the U.S., no shooter has breached a locked door. Locks that can be secured without the use of a key will be more useful in a crisis than locks that require one (putting a key into a lock is a fine motor activity that will likely be impaired in an active shooter attack).

Not all locations have doors that can be locked. If the door opens inward to the room, furniture can be used to barricade the door. Doorstops or other items can be wedged between the door and floor or frame to prevent it from opening. Unfortunately, if the door opens outward (which is commonly required under modern building codes) and does not have a lock, denying access becomes much more difficult. It might be possible to use a rope to tie the door handle to something else, but this will be difficult to do under stress.

Defend. If civilians are unable to avoid the shooter or prevent him from gaining access to the location, there is only one option left. They must defend themselves. There are many active shooter events where the people on the scene were able to subdue the attacker and save their own lives. There are different techniques, including swarming the shooter, advantageous positioning at a door entry to surprise the shooter, and using any object to protect oneself.

Each individual should consider the four cornerstones of action:

1. What is your location to the active shooter?
2. What is the distance to the active shooter?
3. What is your mental and physical ability to act?
4. How much time does the individual have to react?

However, if the school administration has trained on responding to an active shooting, they have identifiable protective measures, actions and procedures that may take into consideration the four cornerstones.

At a minimum each individual who is confronted with an active shooting should begin with “Situational Awareness.” If you are in an active shooting situation, you should:

• Consider your surroundings
• Look for escape routes out of an area.
• Listen for danger sounds.
• Be observant.
• Be aware of suspicious activity.
• When attempting hide from an active shooter, consider the hiding place that will offer either cover or concealment.

What is the teacher’s role?

For the school administration the philosophy of “everyone one for themselves” is not valid as the school has assumed the position of loco parentis, which means “in the place of a parent” for students on campus. Just as a parent will not leave their child to fend for themselves in the face of a deadly active shooter, the school administration must consider the safety of all students on campus regardless of their physical and mental abilities, age, sex and race.

Here are some aspects for a teacher to consider during an active shooting:

• Keep all students together; you’re responsible for keeping them safe. A teacher should not leave any students behind to fend for themselves or allow half the class to escape without direction. However, there is a caveat: a younger student doesn't possess the same skills and instincts as high school or college students. Also, there’s safety in numbers. (For example, even a classroom of young children could protect themselves by throwing canned goods at the shooter.)
• The age of the students will have an impact on their ability to assist the teacher in defending against the shooter.
• Just like adults, students may fall into one of three different response postures: fight, flight or freeze. Additionally, consider the age of the student plus their mental and physical abilities. For example, students who freeze cannot move desks to block doors, fight to protect themselves or be forced to move and flee. Further, if the teacher has a special education class, the options are greatly limited.