What If…
Written by Robert D. Sollars
I’ve talked ad nauseum about how to prevent an incident of workplace & school violence (WPV/SV) in our world. But, what if, despite all of our efforts something does happen and an individual walks into the facility and starts firing a pistol or assault rifle or stabbing randomly with a bladed weapon?
What should we be teaching our friends, family members, and colleagues, and just as importantly, training them what NOT to do. Unfortunately, far too often all we collectively do is wring our hands and cry woe is me, while crying and blubbering about what just happened.
We wail and cry that we never saw it coming and what are we to do Then we form another task force and spend millions of dollars to ‘study the problem’. Or worse we have a knee-jerk reaction to firearms mutually, and the debate comes out over the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution…which BTW is not a malleable document.
We do these things, but what should we actually be doing to prevent more tragedies, injuries, & trauma to the overwhelming number of mentally fragile in our world? We need to be teaching both our family members (even the adults) and children to protect themselves in the incidence of a WPV/SV incident occurs. In a crisis situation, there are a couple of things that we can do and teach them to keep and have around to try and stay safe.
Evacuation Plans:
The first thing is to ensure that everyone knows the evacuation plan for their facility, whether it be employment or school. Teach, teach, and teach again! Teach them until they’re sick of hearing it, and they know the evacuation plan by heart and can recite it like they do any rap song. Knowing where to get out of the line of fire can help save their lives…even with firearms involved.
And if they can’t evacuate:
The other scenario is what if they can’t get out, due to the shooter being on their floor or wing. In this instance, they need to learn how to barricade the door to keep the shooter from coming in. As in most WPV/SV events, the shooter will pick the path of least resistance to accomplish their goals. They know that they have a limited amount of time and want to cause as much mayhem as possible. So making it harder to get into an office, classroom, or other secured areas will usually cause them to move to the next target, and not spend too much time on one door/room attempting to break in…especially if they know their victim isn’t in there.
Escape plan possibility:
If you can remember the time when you got a newspaper, in the Sunday magazine, you’d see the ads for rope or chain ladders to help escape the house during a fire? Why can’t we utilize this same idea to help evacuate the facility where a WPV/SV event may occur? This type of device, where appropriate, could help save more than a couple of lives in the instance of a fire and not just an active shooter.
Run, hide, and fight
Like with the evacuation plan, teach them how to utilize the idea of run hide, and fight.
Run – If you can run like the wind and get away, then do it.
Hide – If you can’t get out, then find a hidey hole and stay put.
Fight – If you try to escape and/or you’re found, fight like a shark with a seal.
Alert system:
Lastly, an alert system code is used on the Public Address system. When the office hears of a shooter, there may, and I emphasize may be enough time to alert people inside the facility. Something as simple as ‘Red West 2’ could mean an incident such as a fire at the west end of the second floor. “Black East 3 could mean a bomb threat or harmful person in the corridor of the east side of the third floor.
Conclusion:
These are just a few simple ways to ensure that your loved ones, friends, co-workers, etc. can survive an incident if one were to occur in the facility. It is fortunate that these incidents, active shooters, are few and far in between. Remember, you are more likely to be hit by lightning than with a bullet. But the other thing that you have to pay attention to and be aware of constantly is the fact that
Any time, anywhere, to anyone, for any reason!
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It happens to Anyone…Any Time…Anywhere… For any Reason
I May Be Blind, but My Vision Is Crystal Clear
Copyright 2022 Robert D. Sollars
