The Personal Value of an Active Shooter Training Program
Bill Greeves
Public Sector Advisor ?? | Former CIO, DCM & Innovation Officer ??? | Raconteur ?? | Globetrotter ??
Her texts came in rapid succession:
- Dad
- Dad
- Dad
- Something's Wrong
- Dad
- Someone's Shooting
- Can't call, might hear us
- Dad...
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Wake County offers an Active Shooter Training program for all of its employees. The program teaches you how to react, calmly and effectively. I've been twice and I encourage all of my staff to attend whenever it is offered. The course focuses on the core reaction mantra: Run, Hide, Fight. It forces you to think about the worst case scenario - if someone entered your building, focused on harming you and those around you. Or at least, I had always thought that was the worst case scenario....
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Today I was busy doing weekend Dad things...helping my son repair the radiator of his beater pick-up, helping my wife put the last coat of paint on a bathroom reno, playing GoFish with my youngest. My 14 year-old daughter was at the mall with her friend and her friend's mom. She was shopping, having fun and enjoying a rare day off from homework and cheer practice. But around 2:30, I got that nearly incoherent string of texts from her...
She had heard the shots and she, her friend and several strangers had locked themselves inside a dressing room in Macy's. Hundreds of people stampeded from the mall and jammed cell service, so all of her text came to me in that jumbled string. After several attempts, I got her on the phone.
"How close are you to a door?" I asked.
"There's an emergency exit. I saw it when we ran in," she whispered.
She knew that the shots had not been close by. I told her that she needed to get out immediately. The strangers (a few adults with her) said it was best to wait in the locked dressing room. But I insisted that she get her friend and leave, taking anybody with them who would come. She got them all to agree and she led them out the doors into the service alley. They ran to the parking lot, found her friend's mom (who had been from coming from a different store to meet them), and safely left the mall.
Had it not been for the Run, Hide, Fight priority of that training provided by Wake County, I am not sure I would have told her to leave instead of staying in that locked room. And that could have made a terrible difference in a different situation.
From the looks of the evolving coverage this evening, the police have yet to confirm that there was an actual shooter. So it appears that no one was injured, just shaken up. But for her (and for me) in those few minutes, it was very real. I used that training to get her to safety.
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If you've never been to active shooter training, I would strongly recommend it., even if you don't work in an office environment. Unfortunately, shootings can and do happen anywhere: schools, churches, offices...malls. The more you can be prepared, the better you can respond if the unthinkable does happen. If nothing else, take 6 minutes to watch this successfully terrifying preparedness video from ReadyHouston, and hopefully, you'll never have to use it!
Veteran & intrapreneur w/ over quarter-century of leading large-scale 1st-in-enterprise efforts for Fortune 100, NFPs, Military
8 年Then there are those who Run to the Fight!
Marketing Communications at Capital Area Workforce Development
8 年I went to the training Wake County offered its employees and it was worth the time. Every organization should offer it because as we know, sometimes threats don't originate from external sources, but inside. But in either case, you need to know what to do. Glad your daughter got out safely!
CIO/Department of Technology and Business Enterprise Solutions (TEBS), National Academy of Public Administration
8 年The most difficult aspect is to accept that this is a part of our reality. We can be in an Active Shooter situation anywhere and at anytime, no one is exempt. Thanks for the heads up on the training. I personally was not aware that it existed. It should be offered in schools as a credited class. I am going to find out if the county my 13-year old granddaughter lives in has an equivalent training.
Civil Engineer / Genealogist
8 年Glad to hear your daughter is safe, Bill! I've been fortunate enough to receive this training a couple times and never had to use it - at least so far. Would definitely recommend it to others.